Parasite
by 082 Martian Scout
Summary: An infestation of parasitic, mind controlling creatures invade Berk, and Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, and his friends are forced into an unexpected alliance with the rogue hunter; Zhan Fray. A few Hiccup&Astrid moments. R&R.
1. Chapter 1

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Night had fallen upon the viking island of Berk, where all of the warriors and dragons, now living in peace and harmony, had all doused their torches and lights and had drifted into a slumber, awaiting a bright, beautiful morning that would occur tomorrow in the morning. Now with the Dragon/Viking War over and done with, a future of prosperity was open to them, and with the hero who had ended the war now awake, the Rebuild of Berk would be underway.

However, on the other side of the island, deep within the forest, a dark haze roamed along the surface. Many of the trees' silhouettes stood their grounds with their roots buried deep within their soil, they all stood around without motion, allowing the early gloaming winds to blow softly across their leaves, their shadows lost within midnight's realm. Barely any creatures stirred at the time, only the clattering of the crickets, the hooting of nocturnal owls, and, on a desire of his own business, one lone man.

Although it seemed more of a time when all should be sleeping instead of fulfilling some delight and thrill, Zhan Fray saw midnight as the perfect time to hunt. He placed lit lanterns in a circle of trees, surrounding himself as he hung a hook in the center of it all. In his hand was a dead boar, acquired and killed only a short time ago to ensure that the meat was still fresh, but with the creature likely to begin decomposing immediately, its dead scent would draw throughout the forest and attract his prey. After all his years of hunting experience he knew exactly how to get and lure in his target, and he only hunted natural predators.

Fray was alike many of the vikings of Berk, he was strong, swift, brave, but more adroit, he kept his build necessary and without portliness. Though he was once apart of the village itself, another among the brutal warriors and barbarians of the island, he never considered himself a viking, in fact, after he had slain his dragon had was granted that honor, he refused it and became an outcast, leaving the village for his own life, the life of hunt. He could never grow accustomed to be a viking anyway, running straight into battles without making plans or stratifying, while the vikings used brute force to win their fights, he used wits, calculations, and a balance of strength to come out on top. He had won many of his own personal skin fights with the others, and even when everyone thought it was pointless, that too much thinking would only distract you and get you killed, it had been what had kept him alive for all this time.

He never applied to viking ways, he never even used the same blades or weapons as they did while in training and in conflict with the dragons. Instead, he used his own arsenal of weapons he had devised himself. Weapons such as the automatic-reload crossbow, the wrist sling, wrist blades, and even his own blacksmith-crafted machete. He didn't wear a lot of armor, considering it would mostly just weigh him down, only shoulder pad and shin-guards of a very light steel, it never killed him to take the precaution. He even had his own dark hair in a different style than the vikings, braided in dreadlocks that hung only from the back of his head, where it shouldn't fall in his face and get in his way. Finally, his last piece of wear of was a mask, originally designed to protect his face from dragon's fire, but had now become his "game face" for every hunt, he never went anyway without it.

With the dead boar lure placed and now hanging in the center of the torches, surely already giving away its rotting scent, Fray stepped away from the bait and climbed up a tall, nearby tree, his his movements nearly silent. Upon standing on a high branch, he unsheathed his machete and lunged it within the tree, deep past the bark to where it might touch the core ring of its first age. Softly he placed his ear on the hilt and listened, hearing for any vibrations that will announcing the upcoming of his target.

He waited for seemed like hours, still listening for movement through the cooperative tree he perched himself in. As time seemed to go on and the moon traveled slowly across the star painted skies, he occupied himself by thinking. Everything was quite, ever since the Red Death, the largest dragon ever recorded, had been slain and silenced. The Dragon/Viking War was over, which meant there would most likely be no more use for new recruits in dragon training, now there would be dragon taming classes open for the next generation. It may have taken a little time of thought but he had accepted that a month ago, however, it seemed liked a real shame that fighting dragons was now a thing of the past, because in that case so was hunting dragons too.

Real shame too, dragons, to him at least, were the ultimate prey, the perfect creatures to hunt and engage in a fight, all so unique, exotic, and challenging creatures to take down, they had sport. But it wasn't all that bad any more, with the dragons now become pets, he might even consider it, maybe, though there was another reason why hunting dragons being illegal didn't bother him, because for tonight, he was going to hunt the next best thing... a Jabberwock.

Suddenly, he froze and fell silent at the thought of hunting such a vicious creature as he heard something through the tree, the vibration of wings, and it was surely no dragon. He stood motionless on the tree branch as the creature hovered into view, floating between the silhouette trees and spoting the bait lure. It was about the same size of a Hideous Zippleback, and it was twice as ugly, with the same skinny, serpent neck, but its single head was clearly shown as nothing like a zippleback, it had a circular mouth filled with large sharp teeth, wide insect eyes, and antennae on the top of its head. Its two front limbs, armed with talons that could easily rip through flesh, were actually quite short, while its hind legs loomed over the surface, almost touching it. Its tail swished back and forth, detailing that it was eager to see to the food placed out in the middle of the circle of torches. Its featured wings flapping at a rate that kept it leveled off the ground.

Though disturbed by the sight of the ugly creature, Fray himself was eager, eying its small head, its skull surely would look nice on his trophy wall. The Jabberwock, although with the appearance, wasn't exactly reptile, it was more of a giant insect. They were vicious, ruthless, and all at the same time, intriguingly fascinating. Yes, the Jubjub birds were the perfect substitute prey for him to replace the dragons, he can already see that.

With slow movements and maneuver, Fray released the hilt of his machete and reached into his pouch, pulling out a bowie knife, a projectile for his wrist sling. Being the same as a regular sling shot, he placed the knife into the pad and pulled back the sling, locking it for a shot he would have to take. His auto-reload crossbow was still slung on his back, and he couldn't pull it out now, but it would take too much time and likely draw the prey's attention. Though the Jabberwock didn't have the best hearing or sight, especially in the dark, it had this sharp sense of smell that allowed it to find and hunt its prey, even if it were a mile away. Hopefully the scent of the dead boar would distract it.

Suddenly, the beast rotated its round head and glanced in his direction, as he remained still on the tree branch. The Jabberwock's antennae twitched, as if it had pinpointed prey, and it revealed its teeth in the manner of a smile. Fray could only wonder if the beast was now aware of his presence in the tree. Impossible, he thought, the creature can't see him in the dark, they were near blind at night. But then he recalled the dead boar, its scent, it could have been picked up by anything. It was the moment he realized the mistake he had made while setting this trap for the target, he had held the dead animal for too long and unwillingly obtained its scent. And now that the Bandersnatch knew where he was, things had just become difficult.

* * *

**Quick Disclaimer: I don't own How To Train Your Dragon or the Jabberwocky (that really belongs to Lewis Carroll). Special thanks to a few previously created works, such as Aliens, Halo, and 3DMonsters, for the idea and inspiration to create the Parasite and this fanfic.**


	2. Chapter 2

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Lying underneath the late night sky bejeweled with millions of sparkling stars, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III inhaled the fresh air surrounding them as he slipped his arms behind his head. He lied on the soft, cool grass leaned against his pet, a rare species of dragon called Night Fury, named Toothless. He was cooperating quite alright with the slow rises and falls of the black dragon's chest, as it rested in the midnight, almost ready to fall asleep underneath the darkness and the stars. The boy wouldn't have minded if he did, although the walk back to the village of Berk was nearly too much of a hike, at this time, it left him alone with the pure night blanket above, glittering with stars, and the young woman beside him, Astrid Hofferson.

It was, so much like this actually, that she had fallen head over heals for Hiccup, while riding through the sky on a dragon nobody believed could be tamed. Toothless wouldn't be the only one, Astrid felt herself at peace and harmony as she lied next to him. They both relaxed, inhaling pure, moist air, and watched as several few shooting stars began to race each other in random directions. It was like witnessing sparks of light rain down from the heavens, it was all just so beautiful and yet it was only so very far away, deep in space. If only they could fly that high, how amazing that sight would be.

"Their beautiful..." the words escaped Astrid's lips, mesmerized by all of the glittering stars. Never had she ever stargazed before, she had never really taken the time to look up and notice them. Why was it that she was suddenly taking notice to this, to everything, just to come to the revelation of how amazing it all really was? - But there was an easy answer to that, and a theory to it as well: it all happened on the day she was lured into Hiccup's secrets. First there was the ability to ride dragons, and now there was stargazing.

She probably never would have come to this if Hiccup hadn't suggested anything. It was his idea to stay up late, to break curfew, and lay out on the grass to watch all the stars. She wasn't even suppose to be out this late, her parents would probably kill her if they found her bunk empty, and had discovered she had stolen herself to go with Hiccup out in the night. Although, they wouldn't see him as a threat given his scrawny features, they needed to enforce the rules, nonetheless.

There was just something about him that made her open up, made her lower her axe and hear him out. It had been rewarding for her when she allowed him to show her how amazing dragons really were, and it was certainly rewarding for her now, lying underneath the stars next to him. Hiccup was, dare she admit it, captivatingly romantic, but she would never admit it, not to him or anyone else, for fear that her reputation would surely drop.

"Yeah," Hiccup agreed with her previous comment, "I'll probably invent some device to get a closer look at them, eventually. But until then, I can just stare at them all night."

Her response startled him, as she had not replied verbally, but physically, as she now loomed over him, blocking his vision of the stars, "I can't."

* * *

The Jabberwock hissed, baring its teeth as it locked its glaring scent-vision eyes with the hunter perched in the tree. Fray acknowledged its warning and crouched, wrist slings fully loaded, wrist knives detracted but ready when he needed them, auto-reload crossbow still slung on his back, and his machete still sticking into the tree. He turned his heals to the right, and sprinted left behind the tree, just in time to dodge a spit of acid from the Jubjub bird.

Acid hissed as it sizzled into the wood, he could almost smell it through his mask. He flipped and landed on the other branch, keeping his balance as he aimed and triggered his wrist sling, launching a bowie knife to the target's direction. The small blade raced through the air and pierced the beast in its wing as it had begun to take flight. He couldn't let it fly away, if it did, it would try for an escape if it couldn't win the battle, and it wasn't.

The Jabberwock hissed in pain as it sunk to the ground, flapping its wings rapidly but not succeeding in stabilizing altitude. Fray leaped from the tree as the target fell to its taloned paws. Its serpent neck curled in his direction, as it locked a glare to the hunter. It maneuvered and counted, waving its head around to headbutt his chest, knocking him away.

Fray landed against the foot of the tree, his back beginning to ache, as he quickly recollected himself to his feet. A spray of acid flew in his direction, and he had enough time to leap out of the way. He dodged it, but not soon enough, for a few drops of acid reached contact with his skin, and was now beginning to burn through his flesh. He wasn't the only thing wounded, however, for the tree had absorbed the acid at its support, as a result, it began to tilt, and then it fell, taking two other trees with it.

He took the small opportunity to press two fingers onto the eaten portion of his skin, gritted his teeth in grunts of pain. The wound wasn't too severe enough to kill him, or cost him an arm, but it would sting for at least a month before it began to heal. He withdrew his hand from his arm and kept his guard raised, watching as the Jabberwock glanced all around, its antennae twitching, in search of the hunter.

_It was time to end this._

He spotted his machete still planted within the same tree, being one of the trees to have fallen, and as he started for it, the Bandersnatch smelt and heard him sprint, and immediately hissed before charging after him.

Fray sprinted for his weapon, for his life, it stood implanted firmly in the tree, awaiting him so that they were reunited. He hopped over the fallen tree, which was now lying in two pieces, the Jabberwock close on his heals. Finally, he reached the hilt of the machete, the beast screeched, he drew his blade... and everything echoed before fallen silent.

* * *

The echo traveled across Berk, finally reaching the spot where the two teenagers and dragon lied. It was loud and frightening enough to stop both Hiccup and Astrid right before their lips met. She pulled herself away and stood on her knees beside Hiccup as he propped himself up, both staring out into the woods on the other side of the isle. Toothless immediately lifted his head, ears twitching upon hearing the sound, as he stood back to both paws, now on guard.

"What was that?" Astrid asked, her instincts directing her to reach for her axe - just in case.

"I don't know," Hiccup replied, the boy careful recollected himself to his foot and prosthetic, "It sounded like it came from deep in the woods."

"You think it might be an animal, an injured dragon perhaps?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"I'm not sure if it was a dragon at all," he said, feeling some suspicion rise within him.

He glanced back at Astrid, and the two were silent. After being interrupted from their - whatever was about to happen - they both begun to feel awkward.

"Well," she began, breaking the silence, "I guess we'd better get back, before both our parents realized we sneaked out."

He gave a small smile, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Before she turned and left, she faced him and socked him in the arm, "_That_ was for talking me into stargazing," she told him, before leaning in to place a soft, slow and gentle kiss on his lips. And with that, while he stood bewildered with his hand caressing his mouth of the remnants, she ran down the hill and headed back home.

Finally, he shook his head and returned from daydreaming, and then glanced in the direction of which the echo emerged from. Toothless, growling in that same direction, became somewhat silent as Hiccup rested a hand on the dragon's head and scratched the side of his neck, "Don't worry buddy," he told the Night Fury, before directing him back down the hill to the village. The memory of the echo, that screeching shriek, still swam around in his mind, and finally reached to convince his curiosity. He'd investigate the woods tomorrow and find out exactly what it was.

* * *

Fray holstered his machete and bent down to claim his trophy, the head of the Jabberwock. He examined it as he held it by its antennae, even though dead, it looked menacing, frightening and ugly all of the same. Its skull was going to look good on his trophy wall, once it had been cleaned and polished. He glanced at the rest of the Bandersnatch's body, it still was still twitching, slightly, but it was unlikely that it would grow another head and attack him.

He rested the Jabberwock's head on top the stump of what was left of the tree, and checked his wound. He pressed a finger in, resisting the pain as it stung, and withdrew his finger, which was slightly dotted with blood. He needed to return to his cottage and bandage the wound before it deteriates, he had gotten his trophy, tonight's hunt was over.

However, before he recovered his prize and headed back, a sound caught his ear's attention, a whining, hissing sound combined with the clattering of small tapping legs, and it appeared close.

The hunter turned his head to find a small, spidery-like creature crawling out of a the trunk of the fallen tree. It appeared small, about 1/5ft large and wide to be exact, wide, flat. Its skin looked rather pasty from where he was standing, it had long, skinny legs, some unidentified appendages, and a long, spiny tail. It looked like some type of bug. It crawled onto the headless Jabberwock, its tail looming over it, as if to observe the beast, and then the tail pointed in his direction.

As if spotting him as something of a source of water in a desert, the creature started for him, its legs dancing and clattering across the ground, heading straight for him. He was rather amused and astonished by this thing's motive, it was much smaller than him and yet it was running to him as if he was its prey. It ran, crawling along the fallen trees and grass, and what really caught him off guard, it jumped.

Acting on instinct, Fray through his fist, his wrist knife extracted, and stabbed the bug in midair. It whined and rattled, waving its tail rapidly around, as it stuck on his blade. He ended the creature's shrilling by taking a firm grasp of it, and then he squeezed, crushing it to death. Its bones appeared easily breakable, hardly much of a challenge. He removed it from his wrist knife and studied the bizarre creature, holding it by its tail, six legs, four tentacles on its back, a soft belly underneath, and something of a visual receptor on the tip of its tail. But where were its teeth, claws, talons; weapons of natural survival?

With the dead creature in hand, he collected his trophy Jabberwock head, and started back home to his cottage. He would get some rest later, right now he had two obtained prizes to tend to. There was a skull he needed to clean out and ready for his wall, that he would start with, and then there was this new species of bug he would need to examine. There was something rather odd about this specimen, and he was going to unlock whatever secrets it held.

* * *

.


	3. Chapter 3

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic1_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

The next morning, right after breakfast, Astrid and her own dragon, a Deadly Nadder, stood and waited over by the beach of Berk. After waking up from the morning bugle, most, if not all, of the adults took to their daily routines of work. Shepherds took herds of sheep out into the fields, lumberjacks journeyed into the woods to chop down and collect trees, and ranchers tended to fields of corn and other vegetation. While the grown-ups went to work, most of the children without chores were free to go about their own business.

Astrid scratched her Nadder on the chin, but tapped her foot impatiently in the sand. Recently during breakfast, she had challenged the others to a race around the island, which they all had accepted the challenge. However, she had been the first to get her dragon out of the kennels, and she was beginning to regret it. She was aware that it was too early, and that the dragons would be hard to get out of their pins when they all would rather sleep, but it was easier just to blame the others for taking too much time.

The next to arrive were none other than the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and their obvious resembling zippleback. As they both strode down the beach with their dragon close behind, the two were wrestling each other for reasons usually unknown, those two already appear to be arguing over something stupid most of the time, or they probably just like to push each other around.

"Sorry we're late," Tuffnut, the boy, apologized, "Little Miss Brush-her-hair-all-fancy needed her neck beads before we could finally leave." He pointed his thumb to his sister.

Ruffnut, the girl, socked him in the shoulder, "It's a good luck charm, and I don't remember you show any respect to yours."

"Hey, I'm a boy, I don't do laces and jewelry, why would I bother with that junk? The point of it is just to distract people from that big butt of yours." He replied, laughing at his own joke, before Ruffnut gave into anger and tackled him to the sand and begun to wail on him.

"Knock if off, _both_ of you!" Astrid snapped, already it had been morning and she had enough of their pointless bickering.

"Greetings my adoring audience," called another familiar voice. All three of them turned to find Snotlout Jorgenson, followed by his Monstrous Nightmare, as he waved and blew kisses out into the invisible crowd that none of them could really see.

"You're late," Astrid exclaimed, immediately.

"I know. Sorry about that, babe," Snotlout said, which didn't really sound like much of an apology. "I was just busy sharpening my axe and working out... You know?- to build up the guns," he took advantage of it to flex his muscles right in front of her.

She just rolled her eyes and turned away from him, obviously not impressed or interested in his failing attempts to "whoo" her. He just wasn't the type of man who could capture her heart, that was the main flaw in every man who tried to win her over, they all tried too hard with inferior methods.

Snotlout might be using the usual and natural viking techniques to win a girl, yet when Hiccup's ability to ride a dragon, something no one thought was possible, aroused her attention, it had brought out the best in her. As far as she was concerned, Hiccup was the only boy she would ever open up to, because with him, she could actually be herself for a change.

"Come on, let's go." They all turned their heads to spot Fishlegs Ingerman wrestling and trying to direct his dragon, a Gronkle, onto the beach. But the large beast had no desire to be pulled against its will, in shorter terms, both of their strengths were equally similar, and both appeared to disagree with the others wish. "Sorry we're late, he's just a little sluggish and grumpy," the portly viking excused, and began to scratch the large reptile's neck, "but we'll be up to it. Isn't that right, big buddy?" He asked his pet, as it purred like a kitten. Until he began to scratch the nerve point between its head and neck, and then it fell and slumped into the sand, unconscious. "Oops..."

"Yeah... You need to be careful where you scratch it," suggested Hiccup, who strode down the beachhead, Toothless close to his side, a satchel hung from his shoulder.

* * *

Hiccup smiled at the future that he was now living, the future he dreamed of but never expected to come true. All of his friends, who were all eager to slay a dragon, as he remembered a month ago, have now accepted them all as pets. It made him smile when they built kennels, pins, and saddles for them, fed them, gave them homes and pet-names, and now joy filled his every breath when the truce had come and now... They were all eager to race one another.

"Hiccup!" Snotlout was the first to greet him, walking up to the scrawny young man and slapping him hard on the back, "Nice of you to show up fashionably late. You up for the race?"

"Ah, not today guys, sorry," he apologize, as he began to adjust the harness on Toothless's saddle.

They were all momentarily surprised by this response, "What? Why?" Tuffnut began, "I thought you of all people were eager for a good dragon race."

"I don't know where you got that thought, but I'll have you know I'm not that competitive," Hiccup told them, "and I actually have a little exploration to uncover."

"Exploration?" Snotlout repeated, snatching his satchel, "Why? Whatcha pack up?"

Before Hiccup could stop him, he tossed the satchel over to Tuffnut, who began to dig through it, pulling out separate items at a time. "Let's see... sketchbook, pencil, map, compass, a few crackers..." while he tossed out each item, Hiccup made sure to catch them before they hit the ground. Tuffnut pulled out a sheet of paper, "...oh look, a picture of Astrid in a bikini..."

"What?!" Everyone, especially Astrid, exclaimed, all simultaneously surprised by the twin's mention. Snotlout took several steps closer to him.

"Really?" He said, eagerness in his voice.

Tuffnut shook, "Psyche, it's just a piece of paper," he admitted, showing him the blank white sheet, "but I saw that crazy look in your eyes, you pervert!"

Before more could be said, Astrid came up to them and punched them both, knocking both amazing obnoxious boys into the sand. She collected the satchel and handed it back to Hiccup.

"Where're you going, Hiccup?" She asked him, as he accepted the bag and tied it back on his back.

"I'm gonna go investigate that loud screech from last night," he told all of them, "it sounded like it came from the woods, like some sorta poor, dying creature, and I'm gonna go check it out."

"Are you sure you wanna go alone?" Fishlegs asked, who was kneeling beside his Gronkle.

"Not if anyone wants to come along," he replied. No one made a sound.

"Are you kidding?" Snotlout asked, as he and Tuffnut recollected themselves to their feet. "You're gonna back out of a good morning race just to check on an animal that's probably dead by now?"

"But what if it's not dead?" He asked, "What if it's a dragon with a broken wing or something?"

Tuffnut began to snicker, "You're really pass off a good time to check on a dying animal?"

"Yeah, I am," Hiccup began, "I'm gonna sacrifice a good time of fun and enjoyment to help aid a poor animal in danger by now. So while you're all flying around the island with that knowledge on your conscience, I'll be doing the unselfish thing by seeing if there's something I can do."

Everyone who was mocking him fell silent, as he had made a good point with the right order of words. Fish legs actually began to applaud the boy, "Bravo Hiccup!" He clapped his hands.

"Oh shut up, Fishlegs," Snotlout barked, as Hiccup climbed onto Toothless's saddle.

Astrid came up to the young man, pulled him by his collar down so that their faces were close enough, and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Just promise me you'll be careful..."

With that, Hiccup only nodded as Toothless extended his wings, readying to fly. Everyone backed up and allowed the Night Fury some room, as the black dragon swiftly took to the sky within a small matter of seconds.

* * *

**Tan-Tan Tanuki: Yeah, it sure is. It was so good, in fact, it made me think up an idea to write a HTTYD fanfic, although I don't have many ideas for it, I'm glad to start things out with this fanfic. Sorry if it gets a little scary in future chapters...**


	4. Chapter 4

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Within the comfort and isolation of his cottage in the woods, Fray felt this was the one place he could really relax and marvel at his success. Upon his trophy wall were dozens upon dozens of skulls, half of them were dragon skulls before the Dragon/Viking Truce, even now they were still trophies, but they hadn't been the only beasts he had obtained victory over in his past, many other dangerous, threat-opposing monsters had been marked prey, and so they were hunted and made trophies to his historical past, and his new addition to the wall was the Jabberwock skull, now cleaned of the skin and fur. It looked rather nice without those hideous features.

This time, however, he didn't marvel the skull, or any of his other victories, his attention was magnetized to the strange, spidery creature he had come across while on his last hunt. After securing a bandage around his forearm to stabilize the wound, he had placed the insect onto a dissection tray, took a seat at his desk, and placed his mask beside his mug.

A scalpel in hand, he sliced the bug open to examine what's inside it, to unlock its secrets, to see what makes it tick. Upon first lying his eyes on it, it was the most bizarre thing he had ever seen, it had to be some type of predator, given its behavior and motive to jump at him. But something didn't add up with that theory, this _thing_ had no natural weapons of its own. No claws, no teeth, no venom, no acid, it had nothing, only six legs to get around, four tentacles on its front, and a spiny tail with, what appears to be, its eye receptacle. It actually didn't have bones at all, just some thick membrane support all throughout its body, mimicking the purpose of bones.

He sipped at his mug and pondered on this insect, according to what he had recorded on his notepad, the creature has the behavior instinct of a hunter, but wasn't equipped with the strength or qualities to live an independent life. Where these things hibernate to stay safe from other, much larger predators was unknown. How it plans to survive within the woods was unknown. Where it came from and why it suddenly occurs during a hunt was a bizarre coincidence. And with that, he was actually quite fascinated.

He wondered if there were any more of this creatures out there, he could only imagine what he could learn from them. Obviously, there was nothing he could learn from this dead specimen, for he had slain it before he could witness its true purpose and potential. All he knew, after yesterday, was that it was an insect without natural or physical abilities to survive on its own, yet it means to be a predator.

Fray place his mug back on the desk and reclaimed his mask. He adjusted his wrist sling loaded it with small tranquilizing darts, all of which dipped with a soporific drug. He tied a small bag onto his belt to contain the tranq-darts, and sheathed at least three bowie knives next to the bag. He collected one of his auto-reload crossbows and loaded it with a magazine of arrows, he strapped two back-up magazines to his belt along with two steel bolas, in case he needed them. Finally, he holstered his machete on his back, donned his mask over his face, and headed outside.

The sun appeared to shine even brighter as he stepped out of his cottage, as if excited or enraged by his presence. He was going to see if he could find some more of those insects, to study them a little, and then try to catch one of them... _alive_. Which is why he picked up a wooden box, something to hold and contain one of those odd spiders without it attempting to attack.

Suddenly, he spotted another creature, flying in the sky, given its black color as it flew across the light blue sky, one would have to be blind in ordered to miss it. From what he could tell, it was a dragon, no... even more surprising, it was a Night Fury. Ironic, after he was done examining a specimen of a newly discovered insect, the very dragon he dreamed of hunting abruptly appears out of nowhere. What's more to add: he could see something on the dragon's back... a boy?

_Of course_, he thought to himself, remembering the news of a young viking who had tamed a Night Fury and revealed to the island of Berk that dragons weren't really a threat. A young man who, throughout the cooperation of a dragon, had slain the mightiest of all dragons, and had done so and made it out alive, mostly. Why, he wondered, was the boy doing out here in the forest, so far away from the village?

* * *

While all of the children played and rode on their pet dragons, Gobber the Belch glanced at them with a smiling face before turning his attention back to his associates to inspect their progress. Considering Stoic the Vast, Hiccup's father, was away for the next month, he had been left in charge of the village until he returned. Quite typical, he thought, he had always been stuck with watching over things while he was away, and frankly, he wasn't sure of what would happen if he wasn't there. Sure, when he had sailed with the others to the dragons' nest, all of the recruits had taken the training dragons and flew to their rescue, which he actually saw as a good call given their progress with the big dragon.

Already, this morning, he had checked the progress of the farmers and shepherds, and both groups had good results from what they had told him. It seemed like a relief too, now that the dragons no longer had a reason to raid them, they wouldn't have to worry about destroyed crops or missing sheep. Now all that was needed to do was hear the lumberjack's progress and he'll be free and off duty to go about his own business.

Upon seeing the group of lumberjacks pulling a carriage of tree logs, more than he thought was anticipated. He smiled at them arriving right on cue, however, it aroused his suspicion when he say that one a few of them were pulling the carriage without any assistance from a dragon. Perhaps they've all been working out without him knowing, it seemed likely.

Gobber approached the chief lumberjack in charge, "Dat's a nice, big load of wood yuh've got. Any trouble bringing 'em back?"

"Naw, no trouble at all," the lumberjack replied, "the trees fell like corn crops being cut down by scissors, and carrying 'em here was too easy. They're all light as a feather, I could've carried a few on my back."

"That's if you _could_," Gobber remarked, "the only thing stoppin' ya from doing such a thing is you pigging out on all that ham."

The lumberjack was silent for a minute, but then burst into laughter. He and his associates shared the laugh for a while before they started back to the village with the large load of logs. Gobber walked along side them and tapped his fist on the lumber, acknowledging the echoes inside of it. No wonder it was so light, it must be hollowed out on the inside.

* * *

**DeaGrimm: I'm sorry, is something wrong?**

**Tan-Tan Tanuki: Good, because things are gonna get scary in future chapters, just seems fair to warn you.**

**XCountrySkiier03: Sorry, no action in this chapter, but there will be in future chapters, I just need to write them out. So don't worry, you're hunger for action will be fed :).**

**Associate Proffeser Evil: Thanx! I'm glad you're liking it.**


	5. Chapter 5

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Flying over the vast lands of trees and green, Hiccup carefully tapped into the pedal that operated the prosthetic tail fin of Toothless's tail. As predicted, the Night Fury turned into the direction indicated and resumed his way through the air. It wasn't as difficult as it looked, nor did it seem so hard after all the practice he had performed, back in secrecy from the other vikings and while on a race with the others. It was so easy to him now that he could pull of some impressive trick at any time without even thinking about it, he could easily think fast in flight maneuvers, and he could teach the others, especially Astrid if she wanted, to be able to maneuver the same way, at a steady pace.

It was times like these that made him laugh when he had proven wrong the phrase "A _downed_ dragon is a _dead_ dragon," for when he had downed Toothless and had aided him, built him a new prosthetic fin, and get him back into the air. Back then, he had no idea what he was doing, but after some adjustments to the fin, such as connecting it to a pedal and placing a saddle on his back, Toothless flew at exactly the same speed he could before. And when Hiccup had obtained his own prosthetic leg, it did little to slow them down. Though at times when he had often had difficulties moving around, such as running, he had gotten use to it rather quickly, he could walk almost normally but couldn't quite run at such a good pace. But with Toothless, as they both flew into the sky, out into the clouds and through the night, they were _one_.

As they roamed the skies, Hiccup looked both over to their left and right to see if he could spot anything unusual, anything that looked like a commotion occurred. It was quite difficult to see much of anything from up so high, he hadn't had this much trouble finding something in such a large, open land that familiarized itself to looking for a needle in a haystack, not like the time he first found Toothless. He searched all around, spotting nothing but the tall mountains, the vast sea that surrounded Berk, and the overly large population of threes, until something caught his eye, a few trees appeared to be downed and leaning.

"Down there," he told Toothless, pointing to the site, "let's check it out, buddy."

The black dragon acknowledged and began to lower down closer to the collapsed trees. As their altitude grew closer and closer to the ground, Hiccup could already wonder of what the mysterious echo from last night could be. He couldn't make out a good idea, for he had only heard it once. It was only a short shriek from such a far away distance, and he wasn't even sure anymore that it was a fallen dragon, whatever it was he would soon find out.

He pulled his prosthetic from the fin-operation pedal of Toothless's tail, and stood on the flat soil of the ground. Hiccup kept his satchel hanging loosely on one shoulder as he began to hike through the woods, the Night Fury close behind him. He didn't say a word to Toothless, only kept a hand on his head to direct him through as they both traveled on foot. If the mysterious creature was anywhere close to where they were going, it would be best not to let it know they were around. He didn't want to scare it if it didn't mean any harm, nor did he want to alert it to attack if it _did_ mean harm.

Slowly and cautiously, Hiccup and Toothless entered the site, finding the fallen trees as he had seen before. At first, he was beginning to think that the lumberjacks of Berk were getting lazy and just forgot about their logs, but that was before the next detail caught his attention. The lanterns placed all around appeared to have formed a ring within this specific area, as if some strange ritual or something was being performed. He released his hold on Toothless and studied the stump of one of the fallen trees, there were no signs of an axe-like blade or others ever used upon it, the wood liked as if it had been...burned through, and had collapsed to knock down a few more trees with it as it fell.

It was all so odd, lanterns... fallen trees not taken down by blades... it didn't add up at all. He looked further around the circle of lanterns, searching for any more clues that may give him a better understanding of what all of this was suppose to be. But when he found the evidence he asked for, he was regretting wishing for it. Before him and Toothless lied the corpse of two animals; a dead boar and a creature he couldn't quite identify.

One thing's for sure about it, it definitely wasn't a dragon, which was a relief. It was big, it had clawed paws, features, wings, a long neck, and what really spooked him, no head. _A missing head_. Toothless approached it, sniffed it once and backed away, growling in disgust of the mystery beast. After a good look at it, before he averted his eyes to gag, he discovered that he had found the dead carcass of a Jabberwock, the bizarre insect-like creature that is rarely seen. They were thought to just be made-believe, used in a scary story for young vikings to make dragons seem less frightening by comparison, back in the Dragon/Viking War. Hiccup, seeing it for himself, couldn't believe it, but then again, he, the scrawniest of all vikings, had befriended, tamed, and actually rode a Night Fury, a dragon no one had ever seen, and had successfully slain the biggest dragon ever. And all that was such a crazy event, he could believe anything by now.

The mystery of the creature's identity was uncovered, but the condition it was in was the real mystery. It was missing a head, and from the looks of it, it had been sliced off. Perhaps by another creature, maybe a dragon with long claws needed to kill it in self-defense, that option seemed likely. He continued to search the area, trying to avoid looking back at the Jabberwock, and see if he could find a clue to its death. To be frank, he was actually glad the thing was missing a head, he had heard tales of it being unbelievably hideous, and he was quite relieved.

He backed away from it, though, only to land his prosthetic foot within a small hole, tripping him. After tumbling to the ground, he quickly recollected himself to his feet to find the hole was actually a foot print, a _human_ foot print. Hiccup appear to make sense of it, now equipped with a good idea of what happened, his eyes followed the continuous trailing of foot prints, according to the spaces each one was from the other, someone was here, and running. He followed the foot prints around the dead beast and found himself standing in front of the other fallen tree, although, with a good look at the wood he found something, like a sword, had pierced deep into the tree. He wrapped his finger and thumb under his chin, hesitating.

Toothless began to growl, which aroused his attention as he spun around to find the dragon, his teeth showing as he growled, the tip of his nose pointed in the direction of the woods. Hiccup approached the Night Fury, standing by his side, and looked out into the woods, not spotting anything but the trees in sight, but apparently, Toothless sensed danger.

"What is it, Toothless?" He asked, laying a slow and steady hand on his head, "You smell something?"

The Night Fury lifted his head, feeling convinced to allow whatever it was slip away, and glanced at him with his yellow eyes, giving him the message that they weren't alone. Hiccup wasn't sure if it was necessary to believe him or not, but then again, animal senses were more accurate than human senses by a long shot. He decided to keep the warning in mind but continue on throughout the woods for some more exploration. Maybe he had found what he was looking for, sort of, but now there was something more mysterious that he wanted to uncover.

They both continued on, but along the way, Hiccup couldn't help but feel as if he was being watched, as if stalked.

* * *

.


	6. Chapter 6

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic1_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

As the wind blew through her blond hair, quite cooling as it brush along her scalp, Astrid ducked low on her saddle, hopefully aiding her Deadly Nadder in increasing their speed in the race. Fishlegs, having accidentally knocked out his Gronkle, was left without any choice but to wait until it woke up, and when they all returned, _maybe_ he could ask for another race. _Not likely_, she thought, the speed she was traveling at, the strength she was sure her dragon was using, they probably won't race again for the rest of the day. She wouldn't complain about how tired the Nadder would be, it was just as tiresome to pilot a dragon as it must have been to actually fly.

Close by her side, Snotlout and the Nightmare were keeping up to meet their same level, at first she could see he was smiling at her, try to make a "move" on her, which would be futile as always. But on the race, he was dangerously close to passing her.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut weren't too far behind either, the Zippleback was catching up to them, both perched on each of head. Even though they were battling each other other than focusing on the race, she felt a worry that she might lose this race.

After struggling to maintain the lead, Astrid found herself and her dragon flying ahead of the other two dragons, now taking in first place as they raced along the gorge. For a moment, she as if she'll win, until a blast of fire flew in front of her and exploded, effectively blinding the Nadder, causing them to lose their focus and fall behind, as the Nightmare replaced her.

It took some tricky maneuver, but Astrid and the Nadder had recollected their place in the air, and had headed back into the race. Upon reaching the end of the gorge that marked the finish line, she could only manage to reach second place. She was angry, not at coming in second in a race she had, but at the sabotage committed by her opponent. She knew the twins had nothing to do with it, the real criminal of cheating her out of first place was truly Snotlout.

It was too obvious, only the Nightmare could have shot such a powerful and destructive fireblast, and who else better to want to cheat in a fair race than he? Even though there wasn't any medals, honors or glories to achieve in a race all set up just for fun for children, he could be just as competitive to win as she herself, but Astrid wouldn't go to such lengths as to sabotage her opponents in a fair-flight race.

Snotlout hopped off the Nightmare and rose his fists in the air, as if accepting the uproar cheers of an audience of fans. "Alright!" He cheered back, before he turned to the others, as they all stared at him, Astrid's gaze was closest to a glare. "What? You're not all sore-losers, are ya?"

"Well, not exactly," Fishlegs began, who had watched the whole race from a good distance, "we wouldn't be considered 'sore-losers' if you played by the rules."

He frowned, "What's that suppose to mean?"

"You cheated..." Astrid told him, venom in her eyes, "you had your dragon blast in front of me just to slow me down, so I'd flinch and you could take the lead."

"Now wait, hold up," Snotlout said, holding his hands in front of him in defense, "You all don't actually think I'd stoop so low as ta' deliberately sabotage an opponent just to win a race that hardly matters... do ya?"

They were all silent, but he could tell that that was a stupid and obvious question to answer.

"You know what, whatever, it's not like we have a referee to disqualify me."

"Hiccup is usually the referee whenever he's not racing," Fishlegs pointed out.

"Yeah, but Hiccup isn't here, is he?" Snotlout replied, as he waltz close to Astrid to wrap an arm on her shoulders, "So... what do you say we go back to the village, grab some grub and-"

Before he could finish his offer, Astrid twisted his fingers, unwound his arm, and held it far behind Snotlout's back, far enough to where he was hurting. He made small whining and yelping noises of pain as she twisted it.

"Not another word out of you for the rest of the day," she warned him, before finally releasing him. He tumbled to the dirt, he lifted his face, which was completely covered with mud, as he began to hold his twisted arm.

As she sauntered past Fishlegs and the twins, none of them took the chance to say another word to here, for fear of having to endure the same thing as Snotlout. Only her dragon followed at her side, following suit as she lifted her chin and sighed, she gave the loyally imitating creature a soft scratch on the side of its neck. After giving Snotlout the message that, for the last time, she wasn't interest, it was nice to see that the asshole finally got the message and realized that he was going way too far with things.

But the adrenaline wasn't the biggest thing on her mind, she thought about Hiccup. It had been - what, an hour? - since he and Toothless had last left to investigate the forest for that strange shriek they both heard last night, and already she wished he was back. For the grace of the gods, she hoped he was okay.

* * *

Strolling along the forest for anything more that may lead him to a conclusion to this mystery, if not to find the main answer to it then to at least get him at a good start, Hiccup listed everything he had found. Lanterns that were still warm, several footprints and blade punctual markings, and a dead, headless Jabberwock, not what he was expecting to find, but if he had to guess, it looked like there had been some type of battle there once. And whoever had been involved had become the victor over the beast.

Toothless kept close to his side, on his guard for some odd reason as they passed through several trees. The dragon's teeth, though usually retract, were extracted now, usually as a warning sign to any pursuers that dared to approach him. Hiccup didn't know what had the Night Fury so spooked, there wasn't any reaction when they had found the beast with a missing head, why was it now that he seemed provoked as to watch for any danger? Perhaps it was the opponent who had slain the creature he was worried about, quite understandable. Whatever - or whoever - it was, he or she would have to be a great viking in order to behead such a beast, and the possibility that it was the viking who took the head, crazier theories have been made.

Abruptly, a squealing noise caught both his and Toothless's ear, it was the sound of a pig, or some type of swine, in some peril. Although out of most of the animals he had often grown fond of, Hiccup didn't have much of an ideal care for pigs, though he saw them as much pet-worthy as the dragons were now, but his curiosity got the best of him. So with that, he started into the direction from where he could hear its squeals reverberate, he would just check it out, see what the matter was, and if it wasn't too serious, he spare a helping hand.

He and Toothless brushed past several tree branches and bushes, stopping upon the edge of a small hill, they both slightly poked their heads out of a small bush of leaves to spot the swine in distress, it was actually a boar. At first they were expecting the swine to be trapped underneath another fallen tree, or caught in a snare, but instead, it appeared to be wrestling...with a strange creature Hiccup hadn't seen before in his life.

It was a large, pasty-skinned spider with unusual appearances and appendages, but there wasn't only one of them, he counted three attacking a cornered boar. The swine squealed a warning to the bugs, even though he didn't understand a word of the animal language, he could definitely tell a warning when he heard one. The boar backed away further against the tree it was cornered in, giving one last warning squeal, and then one of the spider creatures jumped on it.

Hiccup lowered his head deep beneath the bushes, but kept his vision clear with the bugs and boar. He observed and studied as the bug rode the swine's back, curling its skinny, long legs around it for a better hold, attaching its tentacle-like appendages to its head, and as a result of its bizarre maneuvers, he was shocked to watch the boar suddenly drop to the ground. It was motionless, almost looking as if it were unconscious -_ or dead _- he held his breath and waited to see what would happen next, and then, what really sent shivers up and down his spine, the boar stood again, without expression, almost as if it were undead.

_A zombie pig_, Hiccup thought to himself. He immediately pulled out his scrapbook and pencil, and began to record what he had just witnessed. Some new species of spider, large and ugly, with the ability to bring down a boar, single-handed, and from what he could identify, it could work and control its brought-down host like some type of puppet-controller. It was a type of creature that attaches itself to a host, and might stay attached for a lifetime... maybe. Like some kind of parasite.

He finished the note and sketched the shape and form of the bug, after writing a conclusion, he closed his book and slipped it and his pencil back into his satchel, before he glanced back to observe the strange creatures. To his surprise, all of the creatures, including the captured boar, had disappeared.

"Did you see where they went, Toothless?" He asked, turning his head back to the Night Fury, only to find no one at his side. He was alone. "Toothless?" He called his name again, sitting up to his knees. Great. Now his dragon was missing. He glanced all around his personal space, not spotting the dragon anywhere to be seen. He turned his head back, only to come face-to-face with another of those spiders, its tail, which held an eye at its end, staring at him.

Surprised by the bug's suddenly appearance, Hiccup yelped and backed away, only to end up rolling down the hill, fortunately away from the creature, but tumbling down in an even more painful endorsement. The stop seemed even less desirable, because he had rolled right in front of the river, and upon feeling the ground before him, he heard a loud series of _cracks_.

It frightened him to make the slightest move, for fear of the serious condition he might in. But he didn't to stay here, so far away from the village, and especially with those things crawling around. He inhaled deeply, re-summoning his strength, and then tried to sit up. Strangely, he sat up without problems, he felt a little sore after the tumble, but other than that, he had no injuries whatsoever. Some curious memory came to mind, he reached into his satchel to pull out his bag of crackers, which had been crushed when he had fell on top of them.

"Whew!" He sighed, recollecting to his feet, "Better the crackers than me," he said to himself, putting away his destroyed lunch, "Now to find Toothless."

* * *

**...**


	7. Chapter 7

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

"Toothless?..." Hiccup called and whistled, as he sauntered along side the river in search for the missing Night Fury. "Toothless?..." He casually glanced all around him, not only to seek out the dragon, in case those creatures were stalking him. It spooked the living confusion out of him when he had witnessed what one of those things had done to the boar, and he wasn't even sure if they were native or not, he just wanted to get as far away from them as possible before they tried to take him down.

But the memory still stirred in his mind, sending shivers up his spine, an animal had been zombified right before his eyes, and he saw no desire to become a zombie himself. Nor did he want to see the same results to everyone else, so with that thought, he figured he warn them, let them know there's a great threat in their very woods. It was something they needed to know.

_But first, I've got to find that darn dragon._

After whistling for at least five minutes, Hiccup stopped and sat himself down on a lonesome rock. He removed his satchel, placing it next to his prosthetic leg, and pulled out what was left of the crackers, a few which had not been destroyed when he landed on them, and ate his packed snack. There were dry, but they would suffice for a short time.

He felt like laughing at himself, at his still shaking hands, he had become so frightened by the fate of the boar he was not only shaking, he was also ravenously hungry. Those bugs had surely stirred an appetite in him, he felt like he could eat anything, even the half-eaten fish Toothless often offered to share with him.

Except those bugs, those mutant spiders, they were frightening, yet strangely fascinating all the same, and he was, like the first person to ever seen, befriend and tame a Night Fury, the first person to discover a new species of insect. All the proof he had, all the confirmation of their existence, was in his very scrapbook, but if only he had a better look at them from a closer distance, at least to make sure he drew its design right.

Suddenly, the breeze of breath breathing close down his neck brought the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. Hiccup slowly turned his head, before spinning around completely, jumping to his feet, only to come face to face with... Toothless.

Hiccup sighed in relief, "Please don't ever do that again, buddy," he warned the black dragon, before noticing something hanging from his mouth, a long, spiny tail by the looks of it. Curiosity swept over him about what the rest of the unfortunate animal looked like. "Whatcha got there?"

To answer his recent question, the Night Fury lowered his head and spat out the animal, dropping one of the pasty-skinned, mutant spiders to the ground. Hiccup backed away slightly, almost falling backwards, shocked by the sudden tumble of the creature. He was dumbstruck to see how big it really was up close, bone-chilled by how menacing it appeared, he almost didn't want to touch it. To improvise, he picked up a long twig and poked the bug, turning it over on its flat back.

Besides the teeth marks along its surface, he didn't seen anything familiar about it. There was no other creature, especially any sorts of insect, that he could compare it to, other than a spider, but it was too big, and it didn't have anything close to face as far as he could see. He wanted to have a better look at it, but he never expected that wish to immediately come true. He would thank Toothless very much for this...

Abruptly, Toothless began to growl again, a warning gesture to him. Hiccup was about to ask what was the matter, but upon hearing the hissing and shrilling of an usual animal, he quickly got the message and remained silent. He looked all around their surroundings, hoping to spot any hostile before it attacked. He looked at his hand, realizing he was only armed with a small twig, and quickly adapted to that, dropping it and picking up an even bigger stick. He readied himself, stick raised, at the Night Fury's side, and began to slowly and calmly breathe.

* * *

Perched on a high tree, overlooking the scene, the boy and the Night Fury close at each other sides, Fray held his breath and watched as the dragon brought the lad a present, one of those odd bugs. The young man poked it with a stick, obviously too frightened to touch it with bare hands, and appeared to hesitate the same way as he did when he had first found a specimen.

He observed the boy next to the dragon, armed with a stick. He was a young man, but with different qualities than regular young vikings appear to have. He was a scrawny, weak-looking, and appeared to have a prosthetic leg from the angle he was looking in.

Confusion struck him; this couldn't be Hiccup Haddock, the son of Stoic the Vast who tamed a Night Fury and slayed the Green Death, this couldn't be the same boy. There has to be some type of mistake, he was expecting anyone who as much was able to approach a rare dragon to be more...muscular, brave, and more viking-like, but this young lad... It was all a big joke!

But he sorted out a theory, before the truce any dragon would look for a fight in more bigger opponents, bigger vikings would be an example, and a Night Fury was exactly the same as all others. This made a little sense, the scrawny young lad was hardly worth a challenge, and he looked nothing close to a menace or a threat, so it would be no wonder the Night Fury would allow him close enough to touch him in the first place, never mind drop a prize kill in front of him as if he were a pet.

Perhaps the tale of a lone boy befriending and training a dragon was true, however, it was him being close to a real viking that had him puzzled. Though he looked ready to fight, with a stick in hands, it didn't make anyone a viking or a warrior. It was best to watch the fight before judging him so quickly.

Fray looked back at the boy and dragon, both ready to fight an invisible horde of enemies, and then he watched as the bugs began to surround them, all crawling along trees, rocks, and the grass. All creeping closer to the two battle-ready... well, "fighters" wasn't the word, all of their hissing and shrilling began to bring shivers up and down his spine. The rush of fear produced goosebumps along his skin, and yet, underneath his mask, he smiled, ready to audience the boy's and dragon's small fight with the creatures. Let

_Let the games begin_...

* * *

Hiccup stuck close to Toothless, his stick held in front of him as if it were a sword, as multiple bugs began appeared and began to surround them. They all hissed at them, a sound that made his skin crawl, as they drew closer and closer to their prey. The Night Fury growled, baring his teeth in warning, but the creatures didn't hied the warning, they only crawled closer to them, hissed on final time, and then leaped.

Targeting it as if it were a baseball, the young man swung his stick and knocked the closest creature far away, just as it jumped at him. He quickly turned his attention the the second bug, crawling rapidly along the grass to his leg, he kicked it back and lunged his stick, piercing into the ground. Hiccup lifted his stick and tossed the dead insect away, just in time to start beating the third, and then the forth, and then the fifth, and so on...

Toothless had less of a struggling time dispatching the bugs, he inhaled to collect some breath and spat a blue fire blast at a group of them. Dozens of small bug parts flew in the air as a result.

Hiccup swung his stick in all directions, unsure if he was hitting anything anymore. He was reluctantly fortunate enough to avoid having one of those things jump on him, but he wasn't gonna take any chances and let his guard down now. There were still bugs all around him, there would be a whole lot more if Toothless wasn't with him. Talk about "firepower" such as a dragon's flamethrower.

After multiple fire-blasts and swings of the stick here and there, their little battle finally reached an end, with the peaceful running of the stream and the calming whistling of the wind. Hiccup lowered his stick and leaned on it, steadily trying to catch his breath. He looked all around their surroundings, not spotting another one of those spiders in sight, and with that he began to relax. "I think we've won," he said, before something jumped him.

Hiccup fell into the river, which from where he was lying was only ankle-deep, as he began to wrestle with the creature, which was using the boar to attack him. He held the stick in front of him to protect himself, as it kept the zombie swine at a distance by its throat, preventing it from coming closer. He yelped and struggled to toss it off, but given the animal's weight that succeeded his own, he was pinned.

Abruptly, the sound of, not a fire blast, a whistling piece of steel flying through the air caught his ear, and hearing the sound of blade piercing flesh, before he knew it, the boar suddenly fell limp on top of him. He shrugged and finally threw the heavy creature off, and as he sat up, all soaken wet, he was shocked to find blood, not his blood, now flowing through the water. He scurried out of the water and onto dry land to find the blood flow from the boar, and from what he spotted, a bowie knife sticking into its skin.

* * *

**.**


	8. Chapter 8

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Hiccup sat motionless on the grass, spooked by the sight of the dead animal, the bowie knife visibly piercing deep through the flesh, probably stabbed the heart. He was spooked by how fast it all happened, by how quickly the live, hostile creature suddenly fell limp and dead on top of him, yet, he was relieved to be alive, and even more relieve to be alive. But a new mystery appeared to stir, as the next question was asked aloud, "Where did this come from?"

He was almost too scared to the move, he could feel himself shudder at the sight, of what looked like an animal murder scene. He felt small drops of cold sweat run down his forehead, and the hairs on the back of his neck were close to leaping of his nape. He quickly exhaled, regaining calm, and leaned closer to the dead boar, he extended his hand out and touched the hilt of the knife. Suddenly, he found reaction, the spidery creature attached began to move again, beginning to loosen its hold on the animal's head.

The young man quickly snatched the knife, no longer caring about where it came from, and immediately, out of shrieking fear, began to stab the bug repeatedly, even before he realized it was already dead. He fell back, exhausted, scared of himself really, he could feel his own arm shaking unbelievably, and he felt self-conscience about being looked at as a psychopath.

Was he ever so grateful that no one, mostly Astrid, wasn't there at the time, he couldn't stand to have her look at him in fear instead of affection, though he should know better than to think she - correction; _everyone_ - would believe he was a cold killer. Even so, the only one who was witnessing him kill a bug was Toothless, and he wasn't one to judge. Animals never judged because they just didn't care about others self-conscience.

Hiccup backed further away from the dead bug and observed the bowie knife, now returning back to the mysterious appearance of the blade. He glanced up at the clear, blue sky, hopping there wasn't such thing as raining blades, otherwise it would mean trouble. Still, the blade had to come from somewhere, just like the mutant spider, it all would have been a daily coincidence to find either separately, only he had seen a _knife_ before.

Toothless began to growl again, surely detecting more unfamiliar presence than the bugs, and stood up, facing the direction of the forest. Hiccup glanced in the same direction, finding nothing in sight, and then glanced back at the dragon. "Toothless, what is it? What do you see?"

Instead of answering his question, which he obviously knew wouldn't happen anyway, the Night Fury spat a large lance of blue fire out into the direction, which raced right over his head. The boy ducked, miraculously, shielding his head, and then stood back up, glaring at the black dragon.

"Toothless - what is wrong with you?" He asked, angry.

His answer came this time, surprisingly, as the sound of steel swinging and flying through the air caught his ear. He spun around in time to spot a bola, spinning and whirling as it flew. He could only watch as it flew faster than light and immediately snared around Toothless, throwing the dragon off his stance and balance and restraining him against the tree trunk.

"Toothless!" Hiccup gasped, as her sprinted over to the trapped dragon. He didn't know what had happened, where the _bola_ had come from too, and frankly, he didn't really care. With the knife in hand, he came closer to the dragon, hopefully able to cut him loose, but he was stopped dead in his tracks, as someone fell and stood in his way.

Hiccup was standing face-to-face with a tall, humanoid figure. Was it a viking? - he couldn't tell if it was or not, only that it, or he, was human. The stranger had a silver, metallic face, _likely a mask_, that frightened him in his skin, he was taller than he himself too, and _armed_! And he didn't look friendly.

He started to approach the boy, his steps slightly silent as he stalked closer to him, and Hiccup only went with the most effective option he had... _run_. Except he couldn't leave Toothless behind, not in this scary looking berserker's care, but all he could do, if he wanted to stay and help his dragon, was back away from the slowly approaching stranger. He backed away until he felt his back touch the hard wood of a tree, as all he watched the figure, who stood four feet in front of him.

Hiccup glanced at the stranger's wrist, spotting some type of launcher loaded with at least three identical bowie knifes, identical to the one he had acquired from the dead boar. _Maybe it belongs to him, and he probably wants it back_. It seemed likely. He shakily extended his arm, holding the blade out as an offering, and then gently tossed it to the ground of the figure's feet. "Here..." He told him, unable to control the trembling of his voice.

The stranger looked down at the returned blade between his feet, looked back at him, looked up to observe the tree, and then back at him. He raised his wrist, as it automatically reloaded itself with another bowie knife, and pointed it straight in his direction. Hiccup feared the worst, not of dying in such a cold way, and not only of never seeing his father or Astrid again, but of what Toothless's fate would become of after he was dead.

He kept looking at the statue-like assailant, who hadn't lowered his arm, the blade clicking as it was pulled back, and as he shuddered, the stranger fired his weapon.

* * *

The young man matched his early description of him perfectly, scrawny, frightened, and weak. Fray would be surprised if he had actually gotten a date in Berk. At the first sight of him, the boy cowered and backed away into the tree, offering his knife with a fearful hand, and probably shrieking on the inside as soon as he raised his wrist sling.

It was almost like sick humor to him, the boy wasn't the target, he wasn't aiming to kill him, it was the target above him that he wanted to nail, the spidery creature. It had scratched and emerged from the bark of the tree, like a butterfly tears through its cocoon in order to fly in its new form. This was a new discovery, the bugs appear to thrive or hibernate within a tree host for some time before bursting out to seek out new hosts, which would explain what happened to the boar.

After seeing what it could do to an animal, which he hardly had much care for, he wouldn't sleep well at night with what could happen to the boy on his conscience.

He pointed his wrist sling, loaded with a new bowie knife, at the bug, pulled the sling, and launched.

* * *

Hiccup snapped his eyes closed as the knife flew at him, having no desire to see it coming, to watch his entire life stolen away in the blink of an eye. He only had his last picture memories of his friends, of the love of his life. _Astrid_, he thought, _I'm sorry I wasn't careful.._.

He felt no piece of steel touch him, however, he opened his eyes to the stranger, his arm still pointed at him, his firing mechanism empty of one blade. This rather confused him, for he heard the knife whistle as it flew, he heard it as loud and clear as he could see the figure. He looked all around his body, not spotting a blade in sight, until he glanced up to spot... a mutant spider!

He yelped, dropping to his behind to lower from the creature, only to find that the bug was pinned to the tree by the bowie knife, it was hissing, shrilling, and rattling as it hung from the wood, trying to get loose and claim the boy. Hiccup was breathing exhausted, still frightened by everything that had just happened.

Hiccup looked back at the stranger, who was approaching him slowly. He kept close to the tree, frozen in fear as the assailant bent down to get a better observation of him, the soulless mask merely a few meters from his own face. The figure stood and extended his hand, grabbing the spider by its long, spiny tail, and freed it from the pinning blade. He watched as he holstered the knife and pulled out a small dark-like projectile with a needle tip, and then the stranger poked the bug with it. Immediately, it became limp in his hand, motionless, almost dead-looking, and to be frank, he was rather relieved.

The stranger studied the bug in his fist, before revealing a wooden box by his side. He placed it on a flat rock, opened it, and tossed the creature inside, closing and securing it just for safe keeping. He then glanced at Hiccup, turned his attention to the bowie knife on the ground, and kicked it onto his lap. The young man gave him a confused looked, unsure of this matter, until he pointed to Toothless, who was still restrained by the bola.

Hiccup immediately understood as soon as the stranger turned around and started away, he watched him for a minute as he appeared to be collecting more of those odd bugs, and then turned back to cut Toothless loose. He cut the ropes and stepped back as the Night Fury shook off the remnants of the bola, now back on his feet. "You okay, buddy?" He asked him, as the dragon made eye contact, a way of understanding and agreeing with him, before he turned back to the masked stranger and began to growl at him.

"It's okay, Toothless," Hiccup told him, wrapping his arms around the Night Fury's head, urging him to calm down, "It's okay. I don't think he intends to hurt us." He glanced at the stranger, who had collected the dead boar, dumped it onto dry surface and knelled down to examine it. He was quite curious with his business, it must have had something to do with these creatures that are appearing everywhere.

Slowly and cautiously, he approached the stranger, whose back was turned as he appeared to be writing on a notepad. He stood at a distance, not too close to provoke him but not to far to seem afraid, even though he was. "Ummm... Excuse me?" He began. The metal face of the stranger glanced at him for a second, "...Hi..." Hiccup waved, just before the stranger lowered his head back to the notepad.

Hiccup studied the stranger, suspecting he was some type of viking, however, he didn't look anything like any viking he had ever seen, then again, he himself didn't look anything like _a_ viking. Period. He watched as he touched the boar's head, examining where the spider once was, and then wrote within his notepad.

"Some scary stuff with those bugs, eh?" He asked the strange-looking viking, "I've never seen anything like 'em before, then again, I've never seen anything like you before, but you don't seem like someone I should be afraid of... Not that you don't look menacing, believe me, you look very scary, I bet you strike fear into your enemies' hearts, huh?"

He tried to consult with him, but the stranger appeared to be ignoring him, not once looking away from his work.

"Look, I just wanna say... Thanks," Hiccup told him, and then extended his hand, "I'm Hiccup..." He introduced, and finally the stranger turned his head in his direction, "Hiccup Haddock the Third."

The stranger glanced at his extended hand and back at him, looking him in the eye, perhaps? He couldn't tell. But he extended his hand to connect his in a firm, rough shake. "Zhan Fray..."

* * *

**Commentary: There we go! How about that, huh? Hiccup and Fray have met and now that that's concluded, I can get on with the rest of this story.**


	9. Chapter 9

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Within the mess hall, Astrid at the table with the others, a plate of grub in front of her. While every ate and socialized, she was slowly and repeatedly sticking her own dagger into the wooden table, as a sign of impatience. It was obvious to the other young vikings, to anyone actually, she was still waiting for Hiccup to return after his little investigation in the woods.

She didn't know what was running through the young man's mind now, and sometimes she just plain didn't understand him all that well. What she was sure of, and was more comfortable to know, was that Toothless was with him. It would mean if he ran into any trouble, which he often did at times, the Night Fury could always fly him out of it. What she was worried about in that situation was the Hiccup returned with what was left of him.

Astrid was rather confused with what was out there in the woods, what exotic creature in peril was out there that drove Hiccup to investigate it himself? He had been gone for quite a while, it has been hours since they last saw him back on the beach, right before he and his dragon took off and headed for the other side of Berk. What if there was trouble? _For a rather brainy viking, that was pretty stupid to go off alone_, she thought, she hadn't been this scared ever since their return to Berk, when he was in a coma for the several days.

Although if one compared those days to the past hours that had flown by, he or she wouldn't see anything of a problem with that, Astrid, however, was more worried than ever now. It had been too long, no matter what anyone said, though some would say she should be patient and that he'll return eventually, but she would turn a deaf ear to that suggestion, she had been patient while waiting for Hiccup to awaken from his coma, she had no more patience to spare.

While the other young vikings were simply talking, minding their own business, she stood up. "Where're you going?" Tuffnut asked, as he and the other took notice to her.

"I'm gonna look for Hiccup," Astrid replied, "he's been gone for too long, now."

"Well, maybe he's running a little late, there might have been a few problems adjusting the saddle or something," Fishlegs suggested, "Have a little faith in the guy."

"I don't think he could have any 'little' problems out there in the woods, and whatever he's looking for out there he should have found it and return already. Something's not right."

"Like what? It's not like there are any monsters out there," Snotlout assured her, "and if there were, I doubt they'd start something with a Night Fury. They're afraid of that kinda dragon."

"Maybe... But if there are who try anything, they'll be even more afraid of _me_." She replied, pulling out her axe and started out of the mess hall. Only to have her path blocked by Fishlegs while the other each held a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from leaving. "Let me go!"

"Just wait a second there, big girl," Ruffnut told her, "I'm sure Hiccup can get himself out of any trouble, he's not has useless or helpless as we all thought before. So just wait another hour for him, and if he doesn't show up, we'll all go look for him. Deal?"

Astrid hesitated, preferring the idea of investigating herself than wait any longer so that she'll miss everything, but Ruffnut had made an excellent point. Perhaps she was being too concerned and paranoid for the boy, and if she journeyed out there now to confront him, it might only put him in more danger with whatever was out there. She sighed and lowered her weapon, "Fine, I'll wait..." she told them. "Now let me go," she growled.

Everyone got the message and released her, backing away slowly, and returned to their table to finish their meals. Astrid stayed where she was, starring out of the doorway and into the woods. At this moment, she prayed - no, she _begged_ to Odin that Hiccup was alright.

* * *

"So, where did these things come from?" The boy, Hiccup Haddock, asked, "I doubted they fell from the sky..."

"Obviously," Fray replied, almost annoyed with the young man's constant chattering. He kept his attention fixated on the dead bug, as well as the boar who had been "possessed" as he continued to write in his notepad.

"But then again, a lot of bizarre things have happened in my life, so I shouldn't really be frightened by this new breed of bugs or whatever they are, right?"

"And yet, you backed away even from me," he told him, the boy smirked.

"Yeah, but I wasn't really armed, I didn't have anything defend myself with." Haddock excused himself.

"I disagree, for you had a stick, which you used impressively, and you had a dragon, which was by your side. So you had plenty of options at your disposal, you just froze up during the time they could've proved the perfect time."

"Yeah, but..." the boy stuttered, unsure of what to say next. Clearly, he didn't engage in enough arguments to have a winning conclusion, then again, Fray barely spoke a word himself to have a conclusion either, so this would be an interesting argument. After a minute of silence and hesitation, Haddock took advantage and changed the subject, "Anyway, this is Toothless..."

Fray turned to meet the warning glare of the black dragon, Night Fury, it was such a rare creature that he couldn't believe his own eyes behind the mask. He never thought he'd see one so close, just the sight of it had startled him, readied him, prepared him for the worst, it was just so fasicnating that the rush of adrenaline appeared to go on endless.

"Toothless?" He repeated the dragon's "name" that the boy had given it.

Haddock patted the dragon on its head, giving it a scratch along the nape of its neck, as it appeared to purr in response, and its teeth retracted, which instantly clicked the answer to the mystery. But the sight of the dragon, acting so docile and obedient - like a pet - it was almost enough to make him burst into laughter. Even after several weeks after the end of the Dragon/Viking War, he could only get use to the thought of dragons being pets, he never thought he would actually witness it.

"Yeah, although he's not really toothless, the name just... _came_ up around the time we first met," Haddock explained. "But anyway, back to the subject, what are these things? These mutant spiders?"

"I have only come this far to know," Fray told him, turning back to the large insect, "I've only encountered these things last night and they have robbed my interest."

"Last night? You mean you're the one responsible for that headless Jabberwock."

"Yes, it was my midnight hunt, the beast made a new additional trophy, but it wasn't too long after that one of these things turned up. I thought it was some type of predator at first, but it doesn't have anything to hunt or attack with, so it lead me into a mystery that only made me more curious as to dig deeper into it. As far as I could see, it's was no predator."

"That's some strange behavior," Haddock replied, "because they attacked that boar and brought it done, somehow, and then they went for me and Toothless. And then _this_ poor creature starts attacking me. It was so violent and mindless, not like the average pig I know."

"So with what information we have obtained separately, it's clear that these things aren't predators, but they are hunters," Fray began, "they just don't kill their prey."

"What kinda creature doesn't kill its catch?" The boy asked. Both him and Fray were silent for a moment, as they both reviewed the type of animals that exist in the world. A predator that doesn't kill its prey would have to be an animal that needs it alive in order for it to survive, like a tick or a leech...

"...A parasite..." They both exclaimed at the same time.

Fray unholstered his bowie knife and turned his focus on the boar, he shaved its furry back and head, where it had attached itself to the poor creature and took control of it.

"Look here, boy," he pointed to a few small marks along its skin, wounds that resembled the work done by groups of small needles, all focusing on one area before marking another random part of the animal's skin. "You see these punctures? That must've been done by the bug's tentacle thorns. They drilled into its central nervous system, which allowed it to command the muscles and nerves..."

"Which explains how it possessed the pig," Haddock replied, "but why was it acting so aggressive, like it was a zombie or something?"

Fray's finger then turned to the wound on the swine's head, "Because a thorn tapped into its head, into its brain... Because from the look of _this_, those bugs not only take the body, they can take the mind too."

"Mind control..." the words escaped past the boy's lips, his fear was obvious as he took a step away from him, away to reflect on this logic. "But wouldn't someone had already known this? Wouldn't somebody have at least seen these things to begin with to know how dangerous they were? Where were they hiding for all this time?"

"From what I observed from the one that tried to possess you, they appear to hibernate in the trees. They tunnel 'em out hollow, and hide inside to shield themselves from weather and other, much larger predators."

"But if that's the case, then..." Haddock stopped, he appeared to grow as white as a sheep to him.

"Yes, it means we're surrounded now by a infestation of these creatures," Fray concluded for him.

"No, it's not that. There were lumberjacks who come into the woods every day for wood," he explained to the masked hunter, and he already knew what he was going on about now. _The village.._.

* * *

After about two to three jugs of aquavit, Gobber the Belch decided to second-inspect the production stations, starting with the lumberjacks. He would see to the farmers, ranchers and fisherman afterward. With a half empty jug in his hand, he strolled along the village streets, greeting everyone he passed in the town square, and even found himself followed by a small dragon, called Terrible Terror.

Although seemingly annoying, he found it rather cute for the small creature wanting to keep him company, in fact, he wouldn't have mind taking the little reptile as his own pet. The little creature crawled by his side, stealing several curious glances at the portly veteran viking, while he simply asked it, "What's got your eye on me?"

Eventually, he came to ignore the small dragon and focus on his own business. What seemed difficult to him was that his vision appeared to be fading slightly, perhaps he had a few too many, but miraculously, he had found the lumberjacks' carriage of trees. However, he found the carriage had not yet been unloaded, and none of the lumberjacks were anywhere to be seen.

"Lazy vikings..." he slurred, resting his jug on a nearby table as he started for the tree logs, if they were really as light as the lumberjacks had claimed earlier, then what could stop him from unloading the logs himself?

He was about to reach and pick up the first log when something caught his eye, a circular hole within the log. It was actually quite large, as if something had burst out from inside, using some type of claws. He came closer and leaned in for a better look, seeing the shadowy darkness, finding it had been hollowed out completely inside.

_No wonder they were so light_, Gobber thought, turning away from the log to look around, seeing of those lazy lumberjacks had known this all along. If this was some kind of a joke, he was mildly laughing on the inside, but Stoic wouldn't be once he heard this. He was about to go look for them when he heard the Terrible Terror hiss a warning.

"What's a matter with you?" He asked the small dragon, placing his hands on his hips. He heard it hiss again, followed by another hiss, a shrill actually, that he hadn't heard before in his life. He looked all around, staying where he was, in search of...

In an instant, he felt something jump onto him, it felt like a large hand with skinny fingers and slimy appendages that wrapped and stuck onto him. Before he could even cry in pain out into the distance, he felt a some thin thorns drill in between his shoulders, followed by others in many places along his back, and then all when black...

* * *

Hiccup, feeling a lump form in his throat, began to pace back and forth, unsure what to do. The information had become clear, those mutant spiders were probably at the village by now, and every he knows -everyone he cares about - was probably in trouble. He didn't know what do to, he had to help. He had to help!

"You know, pacing back and forth won't exactly get you anywhere," the masked hunter, Zhan Fray, told him.

He was right though, pacing while panicking wouldn't exactly help him come up with a plan, nor would he bring him to the village to see if he could help out. He need to stay calm.

"Well, whatda we do?" He asked the hunter. "We can't just sit here while the whole village could be in rubble by now. They won't know what their up against, they'll never see these things coming. We have to help."

"Calm down!" Fray replied, standing up. "Those things are dangerous, but everything has a weak-spot. The sun's going down, it's gonna be dark soon, and I see it best that you get moving before it's too late."

Hiccup nodded, "Alright, alright... I will. But what about you?" He asked, anxious.

Suddenly, a loud shrill echoed through the woods, loud enough to make them both jump. Fray looked in the direction, "I'll be busy for the moment."

"W-what, you're not gonna help? The village is in crisis you're gonna do what? - fight another Jabberwock or something? I need your help!"

Fray glanced at him, before slapping a rough hand on the boy's shoulder, squeezing it lightly to hold him in place. "This is your fight, not mine. But if you can save anyone and get outta there alive, that trail of smoke" - he pointed out into the distance - "is where my hut is. You should be able to find me."

Hiccup nodded and he released him, he started for Toothless, his legs not moving fast enough.

"Hey boy..." the masked hunter called. Hiccup turned around in time to catch a weapon, an auto-reload crossbow. He looked at the firing mechanism and back at Fray. "To borrow only. It's loaded with soporific darts so use it wisely."

"Thanks, " he replied, and hoped on his dragon. "C'mon Toothless, we gotta go!" He urged him, and the Night Fury extended his wings and leaped, taking to the sky. There wasn't any time to lose.

* * *

**...**


	10. Chapter 10

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Time was up. Astrid had grown tired of just sitting around in the mess hall, waiting for Hiccup to return, and now, no matter what the others were going to say, she was going to look for him. The sun was already setting, and she was worried sick by how long the boy was taking, it should take this long to find some "injured animal" out into the woods. She collected her axe and dragon's saddle, and although the other young vikings were still trying to consult her, she was already outside, heading for the dragons' kennels.

She heard the others, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout all calling after her, but she ignored them, her mind settled on Hiccup. She knew and had already approved for him to seek out an animal in peril, or something, but she had never expected it to take _this_ long. Astrid just couldn't understand him and animals all that well, although it was thanks to his good relation with animals that had allowed him to befriend Toothless, but seriously... He would have at least showed up to tell them a story or something.

However, the young man use to keep everything to himself, months ago he was just a loner, but today he was popular to everyone, although some of the other young vikings still tease and belittle him. But the point, why would he be so solitary now, when he had friends, and a girlfriend, to be more thankful for. He had Toothless, the pet Night Fury, though, which probably over shadows themselves, and it would seem he spends more time with the dragon instead of everyone else.

So that was the mystery that aroused her curiosity and suspicion, and once she found Hiccup, she was going to make him spill whatever secret he was keeping from her, and hopefully, she might not sock a fist into his shoulder for hiding it like he did with Toothless. However, she _will_ sock him in the shoulder for keeping her waiting for such a long time.

"Astrid! Astrid, wait up!" She heard Fishlegs's voice, but she didn't stop to listen, she continued her way to the kennels. "Astrid, just hold on for a minute, you've only been waiting for fifty-three minutes and forty seven seconds... you still have six minutes and fifty seconds."

She ignored the portly viking, not turning to look at him and the others. It didn't matter what they said, what the time and day said, what anyone said... Time was up, she wasn't going to wait any longer for Hiccup to return, she was going in to find him and pull him out herself if she had to.

"Astrid, hang on!" Ruffnut demanded, throwing a hand onto her shoulder, and that almost stopped her. But she shrugged it off, not bothering to respond to anything they had to say.

"Okay, listen babe, let's been smart and listen to reason..." Snotlout began, walking faster to get in front of her. He would have said more, but all it took was a good, hard grip in the pressure point between his shoulder and neck.

Astrid stopped as she held him in place, gave it a hard squeeze before letting go, as Snotlout collapsed, but reluctantly stayed on his feet. She took satisfaction from his pain, now sure that he had gotten the message to stay quiet, and continued onto the kennels. She paid no attention to the group of teenagers who didn't seem to understand her, but if they _did_ care about Hiccup as much as she did, wouldn't they understand and agree with her?

She was only a block away from the kennels, still keeping to herself as the other young vikings tried to convince her otherwise, until she stopped upon spotting a shadowy figure. Astrid could easily recognize the shape, it wasn't Hiccup - who was scrawny - the silhouette was big, meaty, and portly, like most of the vikings around here, he had horns on his head, obviously from his helmet, a prosthetic leg, and a prosthetic arm. She came closer, squinting her eyes, and was reassured to find Gobber the Belch.

"Gobber?" Astrid replied, both quite glad to see him but also a little confused, shouldn't he be double inspecting the shepherds? "What are you doing here?"

The veteran viking stood silently still, not responding, he just faced their direction, a mace hanging from his right hand.

"Gobber?" Fishlegs asked, sounding concerned, "What's wrong?"

Finally, the portly veteran started forward into the light, his image becoming clear and in sight as he drew closer. Everyone, even Astrid, suddenly grimace in terror upon seeing the expression of his face. It was blank, as if he hadn't sleep in ages, his jaw was hanging wide and low, his shoulders were sagging forward, and his eyes... they just didn't look like real eyes anymore. The pupils were reduced, shrunk to only small dots residing in the middle of his now white eyes.

"Whoa... Gobber..." Snotlout began, "You don't look too well."

Suddenly, something appeared to rise from behind his back, like a tail, small and skinny but still enough to spook them. The "tail" pointed at them, as if it were an eye, and a hissing sound emitted. It was horrible, so bizarre, so frightening in fact it would have made them jump out of their own skins. Gobber's armed hand twitched, and rose, holding the mace high into their air. The hiss grew louder, almost as to signal a charge, and the viking's legs started forward, fast.

"Gobber, what are you-?" Tuffnut was about to ask, before Astrid pushed him and the others out of the way, just in time to dodge the swinging of the mace herself.

The heavy sphere flew over her head, reluctant to not have snatched a thread of her hair. She backed away, keeping her weapon raised, she didn't expect to use it on the man who had been their preceptor, but she never expected him to just attack them for no reason.

"Gobber! Stop!" Fishlegs cried, tackling the veteran and, given his own portly weight, was able to knock him to the ground, before he could go for another attack.

The large young man quickly recollected himself to his feet, just in time to shriek like a girl (_no offense to some readers_) at the sight he had endorsed. Everyone looked to find the horrifying sight that had resulted in his frightened scream. Attached to Gobber's back was a spider, octopus-like animal, wrapped between his shoulders, its tentacles sticking into his head.

Astrid felt herself tremble on the inside, this creature was just too frightening - too alien - to handle. She no longer felt the rush of adrenaline pumping into her, instead, she felt fear itself struck her, now running through her veins, almost enough to turn her into stone, she hoped that wouldn't happen. For the first time in years, Astrid Hofferson was frozen stiff in fear.

She stood still, her axe in front of her for her protection, watching as Gobber - or rather what was left of him - began to recoil to his legs, the creature on his back hissed and pointed its tail, which appeared like some eye receptical, straight at her. The viking turned to her, mace still grasped in hand, as he sprinted in her direction. His movements almost resembled those of a zombie.

Astrid thought this was it for her, she couldn't move, she was too shocked by everything she was witnessing. She felt her fingers becoming twitchy, until they finally gave in and lost their hold on her weapon. She heard the axe hit the ground, but she didn't try to recover it, frozen in fear. She would have been dead, if someone hadn't snatched her wrist and pulled her out of the way in time.

It was Fishlegs and Ruffnut that had saved her, pulling her out of the way of the attacking assailant that use to be Gobber. She watched as the veteran continued in the direction of which she was in, as if not noticing that she was no longer there, tripped over her fallen axe, and tumbled into a carriage of hay.

Snotlout and Tuffnut took advantage and pushed the carriage, watching as it rolled down hill. They both looked away, averting their eyes from the crash, and when they reopened their eyes to spot the new haystack in Berk, "Sorry Gobber!" Snotlout called, before he and Tuffnut turned back to the others.

Fishlegs and Ruffnut released Astrid, who was breathing heavily, still spooked by the experience she had just endorsed, but everyone was looking at her, she needed to stay strong and not look weak in front of them. Appearance was apparently everything to a viking, and she wasn't going to let hers slip. She shook her head, not making eye contact with the others, only saying "Thanks" to the ones who had just saved her skin, and recollected her weapon without another word.

"What was that about?" Tuffnut asked, folding his arms. "Gobber just went crazy on us."

"I'm more curious about that thing on his back," Fishlegs exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like it, it looked like some new species of spider or crab or something..."

"Regardless of whatever it was, it doesn't look like something we should be fascinated by." Astrid told them, gripping her weapon firmly. "that creature, it looked like it had some kinda control over Gobber, like he was a puppet."

"Wait, are you saying" Snotlout snorted, disbelieving the theory being suggested, "that big bug on him was 'controlling' him?"

"Why else would Gobber attack us without reason, without even saying a real word? And that look in his eyes, I doubt that's just him having a bad day, or drinking too much."

"True, alright, going with this 'bug controller' theory. So whatda we do?"

"If only Hiccup were here," Ruffnut exclaimed.

"Hiccup?" Snotlout snorted, "The guy's been in the woods all day, and if these things are here, who's to say they're not in the woods too. The poor wimp's probably limping around with his dragon, looking for brains to-"

Astrid punched him in the face, shutting the stupid boy up before he said anything more. Though what he was claiming might sound harsh and unfair to the young, scrawny viking out there, he could be right. Hiccup had been gone for way too long, and hasn't return or even called for help. Maybe she wouldn't even hear it but surely one of the dragons would have, and she could use them to hopefully find him.

But she had to face facts, the more possible facts, if Hiccup encountered anything, such as something like that spider, the odds that he got away were quite slim.

"We've got to go," she told them, "we've got to gather everyone, warn anyone about this, and maybe we can do something about it. If not, then we should leave Berk."

Her option was questionable, but it made sense. If there was any more of these creatures crawling around, and were possibly plotting some sort of infestation, none of them wanted to be around when that happened. As they all started for the search, Astrid turned her head away from their onlooking eyes to shed a tear, praying fair well to Hiccup. She didn't want to accept it, she couldn't, she wouldn't, but it all must be true.

Hiccup was gone.

* * *

Of all things, Hiccup was not "gone," however, he was afraid he might be too late. Soaring through the sky on Toothless' back, he urged the Night Fury to go faster, letting him know that lives were at stake.

"Come on, buddy," he told Toothless, "come on!"

Feeling the auto-reload crossbow slung on his back, the weapon which the masked hunter, Fray, had given him in case he needed it, Hiccup felt a sense of de'javu. Once again, he was given a weapon, against his will, and being thrown into the fight, just like his father had done. But he had done it because he believed Hiccup wanted to fight dragons, and he did before, but Fray had just handed him the weapon as a last resort. He would use it, if not to engage one of those things then to at least protect himself, or others.

He feared for Astrid, after seeing a boar possessed by one of those bugs, his very skin had sprouted nearly permanent goosebumps. He couldn't stand to see any of his friends get caught by a mutant spider, he didn't want to imagine them as puppets to those bugs, it would be a scar in which he couldn't redeem himself of if he allowed that to happen.

As they flew and entered over Berk, Hiccup looked down to the village, finding many people, just sloppily walking around, which seemed usually. However, he could easily spot the mutant, pasty skinned bugs on their backs, the little eye/noses swinging all around. He was too late, the infestation had already begun.

But there had to be survivors, vikings wouldn't go down without a fight, and he doubted dragons would be different in that scenario. There was still hope, there was still a chance.

* * *

**.**


	11. Chapter 11

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Astrid and the others kept close to shadows and out of sight, unsure whether there was anyone to trust anymore. After Gobber just attacked them for no reason, and after spotting the spidery creature between his shoulders, it looked like a crisis too far difficult for mere teenagers to handle. If only Stoic was still here, and more over, if Hiccup were here, either of them would know what to do in this situation. It would seem, for the first time, she was lost and unsure what to do.

Upon reaching the corner of a small hut, she held out her hand, signaling the others to a halt, and then she leaned close to the curve to check the coast. Around the corner she found, to a horrible image she was afraid would come true, fellow vikings and dragons, all now subjugated by more of those hideous, spider bugs.

Their expressions and postures matched that of Gobber's when they had found him, slack-jawed, eyes wide, pupils shrunk, and limping like a zombie. It brought shivers up and down Astrid's spine, her mind already producing images of they would look like, what Hiccup might look like, as one of the poor villagers they all used to know.

However, there was another problem, not regarding the zombie invasion but rather their escape route. The path way to the docks, where plenty of boats were still lined that would at least take them away, was blocked by zombie vikings and dragons. That cut the option of using the boats for escape, so they couldn't count on getting away so easily, the only two other options were to stand and fight, or run away to fight another day.

"Great!" Snotlout exclaimed, sarcastically, "Now whadda we do?"

"Does anyone see a clear path to the armory?" Astrid asked, and she felt them glance at her in surprise.

"Astrid, you're not really thinking of-" Fishlegs started, his voice shuddering at the thought of what she was suggestion.

"No. Of course not. At least, I'm not planning to use them unless we have to," she replied, "Look, we just have to get away from here and stay alive, use our weapons and wits in case we have to. The main task is staying alive."

"Okay, so then after we get the weapons, then what do we do? Where do we go?"

"We're going to Raven Point to find Hiccup," she told them. Everyone was silent.

Hearing the young girl suggest they meet up with a boy, who was suspected dead by now, only made them question her sanity now. The thought of Hiccup, whom was their most respectful friend, and they had often teased him on several accounts, dead, or even one of those walking bug minions, was a big blow to everyone, especially her.

She might be denying everything, mostly the truth for that matter, believing that Hiccup was still alive somewhere, anywhere they could reach in case they needed him. She must have been taking this harder than any of them would have thought. If she was denying his death to be true, then she might be worse than they thought, probably lost her mind at the idea, too.

"Listen, if there's anyone we can turn to for help, it'll be Hiccup, and if there's any safer place than here, it would be Raven Point. Either way, we're going there to hide out for a while, until Stoic arrives to fix this situation."

"Yeah, if he even can..." Ruffnut pointed out, and she remained silent.

She was right, there was a possibility that even Stoic the Vast couldn't do anything to resolve the situation. In fact, it might all be completely hopeless. No matter what, however, she wasn't going to rest on her knees and let one of those things take her so easily, not without a fight at least.

"Well," Fishlegs began, "There might be a way around the village, across the street behind the corner hut. I'm not one hundred percent sure but we might be able to slip by them without being seen."

Astrid nodded at the idea, hopefully they, just the five of them, might be able to escape armed. It would seem they would need the weaponry, for if even the dragons were now zombies, then there was no chance of escaping on their own dragons. And to move without being seen would be an excellent strategy, and it would need to be exploited now.

"Okay," she began, turning to the others, "We'll begin with a slow approach so watch your steps, and if any of them see us, you just leave them to me. I'll try to lure them away so you all can-"

She stopped as she spotted something familiar and disturbing, it was one of those pasty spiders on the wall they had their backs up against, its spiny tail pointing at the small group as a slight, nearly silent hiss came from it. That of which reminded her of a snake finding a mouse, which would soon be its dinner.

"Watch out!" Astrid shouted, sure but not caring if she had blown their cover, just as the bug sprung off the wall and landed on Tuffnut, its unexpected appearance catching him off guard to knock him off his feet.

He landed on his stomach, kicking as he tried and reached behind his back, trying to grab the creature and pull it off. "Get it off!" He screamed, and they were all sure by now that someone was bound to hear him. The other young vikings crowded him, trying to help remove the damned monster from his shoulders, as his struggling was mixed with its hissing and shrilling.

And just like that, Tuffnut's scrabbling and fear-filled yelling came to a dead silence, as his body felt limp under their attempting-to-assist hands. Everyone, mostly the young Viking's sister Ruffnut, fell in silence, fearing for what happened to him in such a short time. Astrid had endured the whole thing, watching the young man, who was screaming and panicking only a second ago, now lying in something of a coma the next second after.

"Tuffnut?..." Fishlegs whispered, biting his nails in suspense.

As if waiting for someones voice to speak out, the spidery creature chirped, and Tuffnut twitched before he rose, much like a puppet being pull to its feet by its strings, and stood back up, slouchy. Astrid held her breath, Ruffnut looked as if she were ready to shriek, and Fishlegs and Snotlout backed away.

His expression matched that of the others, mouth drooping and pupils degraded, Tuffnut was one of them. The possessed young man let out a bone-chilling moan, which was mixed with the creature's hissing, and threw himself at the closest - Astrid.

She dropped her weapon and held her arms in front of her, grimacing as she pushed his shoulders, trying to repel the puppetized viking that use to be his friend.

"Tuffnut... stop! We're your friends!"

He wasn't listening, as if he wasn't their friend anymore, only another one of those slouchy walking minions. Astrid kicked his side, fell backwards to her behind, and threw Tuffnut behind her. As she recollected to her stance, so did the zombified viking, and many other followers to whose-knows-what force crowded behind him.

"Remember the plan," Astrid exclaimed to the others, snatching her weapon off the ground, "Get to the armory, and hurry!"

With that, she ran in one direction, yelling and making plenty of noises to get the zombies' attention, hoping to lure them away. In a way, she was successful, because when she looked behind her she found uncountable vikings and dragons chasing after her. However, only half of them were after her, while the other half was chasing the other viking teenagers.

_They were smart..._ That was going to be a problem. They probably overheard their plan to escape the village with weapons, and that they were planning to meet up with Hiccup at Raven Point, and if they knew Berk good enough to know where that was, then things had just gotten a lot worse. Whether Hiccup was still alive or not, she was putting him in danger, along with the others, and aware of these creatures' invasion, Astrid felt as if she'd failed everyone.

She heard a horrid hissing sound, close behind her, and it wasn't from one of those bugs, it was from a Nadder. She glanced behind her, spotting the dragon launch a deadly lance of fire straight in her direction, and she had just enough time to drop to the ground, just as the blast flew over her head.

She rolled to her back, right as the blue and yellow dragon toppled over her, pinning her down with its clawed foot. Though she knew she would probably regret hurting her own dragon, she slammed the butt of her axe onto its toes. The Nadder screeched and retracted its foot, allowing her to crawl out and sprint away, eluding several blasts from the multiple dragons in the process.

Astrid slipped around the corner of the nearest cottage and hid herself inside the barn, close to the hay piles. She inhaled and exhaled heavily, trying to regain control of her breathing. It had only be a few minutes and already she was tired, tired but not finished. Not ready to give up yet. She still had some fight in her, and she wasn't going to let it go to waste, or leave it to more of those spiders.

She kept her grip firmly tight around the hilt of her axe, no chance she was willingly going to let it go. She glanced outside, spotting no man, woman, or dragon in sight, for the second, the coast was clear. Just when she was about to discreetly sprint out there to regroup with the others, a pair of hands appeared behind her and grabbed her.

One arm around her waist while the other covering her mouth, preventing a sound from escaping her lips, a sound that would alert and call for help. Astrid could do nothing but scream on the inside, while she couldn't be heard by even herself, as her body was pulled into the haystack.

* * *

**Commentary: **


	12. Chapter 12

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

With great haste and without time to waste, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Ruffnut burst through the doors to the armory hut and began to pile up whatever they can find to fashion a barricade. They locked it tight and Fishlegs, given his portly stature and shape, threw his back to the door, providing a secondary support to preventing it from being opened and the zombies from marching - limply - in to capture them. None of them wanted to go any farther than that prediction.

All the while, Snotlout scurried all around, picking up as many shields as he could carry on his back, collecting as many swords and axes as he could hold under his armpit. He didn't need any other encouragement than what he had just encountered a few minutes ago, with all those people out there, all those "zombies" now after him, it was more than convincing enough to make him gather the tools needed to at least defend himself.

After holstering two shields on his back, arming himself with one in his armful hand, and held three axes and two swords in his coiled arm, as well as armed his free hand with an axe, he glanced at Ruffnut to check her progress. However, it would appear he was doing all the work, as the woman of a viking was seated on a bench, her head lowered, as if she were depressed - or acting depressed and just being lazy.

_Typical chicks_, he thought.

"Ruffnut, get up and start helping," he demanded, as she lifted her head. Her face, surprisingly, swelled with tears. "What's up with you?"

"Tuffnut," she breathed, mentioning the name of her brother, "he's one of them. I know we need to collect some weapons to defend ourselves from them but... Tuffnut's one of them. I know we haven't gotten along - ever - but he was still my brother, and now he's gone."

"Well forget him! Let 'em go! We're on our own now," Snotlout told her, "We need to stay tough and fight for ourselves while we still can. Just us."

"What about Astrid?" Fishlegs asked, holding the door closed, despite there being no hostile force trying to break in.

"Astrid's a tough chick, she can handle herself," he replied, and brought himself to think about the blond beauty, whom, in a way, was a vixen.

Astrid Hofferson was the hottest girl in all of Berk, and, disappointingly, one of the most toughest vikings around. She was, obvious, hard to impress, she even saw little of himself. But what really surprised Snotlout above all other things was that when she finally came around to pick a boyfriend, when she could've chosen _anyone_ - which he mostly hoped it would be him - out of all the tough viking boys all around, she had to go and take an interest to Hiccup. Hiccup! The village's useless wimp.

However, with the boy gone, and though it may seem insensitive, Astrid was technically available. So maybe, after all of this was over, he could move in and possible make a move...

"Will you hurry up?" Fishlegs began, speaking a nearly whispering voice, "I think I hear someone coming..."

Snotlout turn his attention away from the fantasy of an idea and focused on the real problem at hands. Ruffnut quickly snatched a mace and held it close to her chest, she was still trying to recover after this traumatizing event about Tuffnut. Fishlegs just stood there, propped against the door, snatching an axe and clenching it close to his chest, trembling with fear.

They were all silent for a minute, which seemed almost like an hour, where no sound was made except the sound of footsteps outside. Snotlout didn't know who it could be, he couldn't identify them all that well. It might be the zombies, vikings and/or dragons, or it might be Astrid, tip-toeing outside to make sure the coast was clear.

Whomever it was, they took a few steps close to the armory, in which they were hiding in, and then turned away. Snotlout exhaled heavily, quite relieved that they were in the clear... for about five seconds. A large force slammed on the door, so aggressive that it could've knocked Fishlegs off his feet if he hadn't keep his strength and weight supporting the barricade. So much for their little "hideout".

* * *

Back at the barn, Astrid kicked and squirmed as the unseen figure behind her kept her restrained, she could only scream without making a sound, for the hand over her mouth muffled and prevented the cry for help from escaping. She tried to break free from the hostel's hold, her horror already recognized at the fate of Tuffnut, and she didn't want to endure the same fate of becoming a zombie puppet. The very thought of just walking around droopy, with one of those bugs riding her shoulders, while probably walking without a soul had only convinced her to keep kicking and screaming until she was free.

It seemed likely that she could break free, this foe's hold on her wasn't exactly the strength of ten men, in fact, it seemed a little too weak to fully immobilize her, probably just throw its weight at her to knock her off her feet, it appeared. But the warm hand over her lips felt as if it wasn't going to release her, and the other arm around her waist was... _gentle_ for some odd reason, and in a way, actually quite familiar.

"Astrid, calm down!" Whispered a demand from a shockingly familiar voice, "It's only me."

She finally ripped herself out of his hold over her and spun her head, only to find - with tears of joy and a rush of excitement flowing - Hiccup, still alive and not zombified, with only a few scratches on him. Right next to the young boy was his dragon, Toothless, whom had been witnessing her frightened reaction and recent struggle to break free. It looked rather humored.

"Sorry if I startled you, I didn't want to draw any attention from the- " Hiccup apologized, trying to explain. She interrupted him by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close to her body, before she smacked her lips onto his. She kept him this close, their kiss this long and deep, for a long enough minute, before she released him, and threw a fist against his arm.

"That's for scaring me!" She hissed at him, harmful but not lethal venom in her eyes. How dare this young viking frighten her, not by pulling her into a haystack without warning, but by his absence reaching past it usual limits. He had been gone for far too long all day, and he had the nerve to just show up at the last minute, right after these giant bugs just appeared out of nowhere.

For a minute, she was angry - no, enraged at him for doing such a thing, but it all dissolved into relief and affection. She hated him for leaving her hanging, with so many worries, and yet she loved him with all her heart.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry," he apologized, this time begging for her acceptance. "I was ambushed and attacked by some kinda new species of insect and I guess I lost track of time, too." He chuckled nervously, and she didn't see what was so funny about that.

"Wait, an insect? - you mean like a bug?" She asked him, "Did it look like a giant, mutated, pale spider?"

"Yes, that's exactly what it looked like," Hiccup replied, "I suppose you've seen it, then?"

"No. When it comes to guessing games, I rock the freakin' house," Astrid said, sarcastically. "Stupid. Of course I've seen it! I've seen a lot of those things crawling around, attaching to people and dragons... it's awful!"

"Astrid, calm down. Take slow breaths," he directed her, as she tried to relax, inhaling and exhaling deeply. "Now tell me, is there anyone left, anyone who isn't infected?"

She nodded her head, "Yes, yes!" She said, suddenly remembering the others - Ruffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs - they were at the armory, and the zombies were chasing after them. "The others! They're at the armory!" She told them, and started for the outside of the barn, "We've got to get-"

She was ceased from completing her exclaim as she came face-to-face with a possessed Hideous Zippleback, the bug controller on its back, as it growled at her. Before she could even raise her axe, a small dart, out of nowhere, flew by and hit the dragon on its torso. Immediately, the two-headed beast drooped itself and dropped to the ground, motionless, but still alive oddly.

Astrid spun around to find that the dart had been launched from an odd-looking crossbow, in Hiccup's hands.

"Where did you get that?" She asked, as the young man put the mechanism away and directed Toothless out of their hiding place.

"I'll explain that later... right now, we need to find the others," he said, hopping onto the Night Fury's saddle. "C'mon, let's go!"

* * *

**...**


	13. Chapter 13

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

"Do you see them?" Hiccup asked both Toothless and Astrid, as the Night Fury flew them across the village. Among all the deserted streets and cottages, he could only find several vikings and dragons, and not one wasn't infected. But despite how the odds of finding any survivors, such as their friends, were against them, they _had_ to keep looking, they _had_ to keep trying.

"They should be at the armory," Astrid replied, looking over his shoulder, searching amongst the village for a familiar face, and hopefully one that wasn't reduced to some minion. She spotted the arsenal hut, along with their three friends escaping out the back door, and pointed, "There!"

Ruffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs sprinted as fast as they could away from the armory, as well as away from the charging victims-turned-zombies, their shields extended and taking impacts from the shots of fire launched in their direction. They shield themselves and dodged as best they could, and actually, they didn't feel like putting much of an effort in it consider how much the dragons' aim had diminished.

Those spiders must be reducing their hosts, controlling them to the point of exhaustion, as if they were all being controlled to _death_.

At one point, Ruffnut spotted the Night Fury and his two passengers, and began to wave her hands, jumping up and down, "Help!" she called, summoning their full attention. Hiccup acknowledged this, operated the pedal and flew Toothless down to their location.

The black dragon fired a blue flame between the three vikings and the zombie horde, drawing a line of fire that blocked and prevented them from getting any closer. Toothless landed beside the teenagers as the came to a stop, "Hop on, hurry!" Hiccup ordered, as they gladly complied.

Snotlout sat right behind Astrid, as Ruffnut sat behind him, but already Toothless began to worry of the possibility of collapsing due to the nearly overwhelming weight of all these passengers. In fact, both he and Fishlegs were quite nervous, the large, portly viking carefully took a seat on a small part of the saddle and crossed his fingers.

The infected vikings hissed and stepped aside as an infected Monstrous Nightmare, a bug wrapped around its neck, leaped through the fires, roaring as it doused the flames. This move it made, although may not be so clear to everyone else, was a dead give away to Hiccup that the bugs must not like fire, especially one in control of a Nightmare.

Hiccup aimed the crossbow, loaded with the soporific projectiles that were capable of knocking out a dragon, and fired it repeatedly at the pryo-dragon. At least two darts had pierced it in its shoulder, while he had fired six shots from the weapon - how embarassing. It took effect, though, for the Nightmare sluggishly dropped to the ground.

However, the small victory meant nothing, for the bug minions had found a way around the wall of fire, and were now sprinting for the young vikings and Night Fury.

"Let's go," Hiccup told Toothless, as the black dragon began to sprint, extending its wings, and leaping into the air. He was flying away, but unfortunately, he could only make 2ft off the ground. "Toothless, what's wrong?" He asked the dragon, as it whined at the overwhelming weight on top of his back.

Though despite how much they tried, they weren't going anywhere fast, or in altitude, and the zombies were getting closer. A few infected vikings were swing bolas over their heads, and as they tossed them, almost all of them made a complete miss, except for one that had caught Fishlegs.

They large boy panicked in surprise of the bola, and accidently squirmed too far to the left, falling off the saddle, in the attempt to get loose.

"Fishlegs!" Snotlout called to his friend, who had fallen into peril.

Hiccup repositioned his foot in the pedal, "Toothless, turn around. We've gotta help him!" He told the black dragon, as they spun around and were now heading in the other direction.

"No! Don't!" Fishlegs called back, getting his hand free to wave them away. The Night Fury stopped in his tracks, while the other young vikings gazed at him in shock of this uncomfortable decision. "Save yourselves!"

They didn't want to leave their friend behind, how could they just abandon Fishlegs when he was in grave danger, whereas the zombies were closing in? But with that firm look in his eye, it was clear that he was serious about making the sacrifice, because he didn't believe there was any other option. Noble, but quite idiotic from their point of view.

Regardless, they took his word for it and turned to fly away, and as they cover a mile, much faster actually, they all couldn't help but feel guilt and depression crush them as Fishlegs' screams echoed.

As they flew away and made their escape into the woods, they all laid on final look upon Berk. Normally, it was populated with many vikings and dragons who would all bring harmony to the streets, and light the lanterns all over the village, but now, there was no one to light them, no harmony, and nothing left to look back to. The village was lost.

* * *

The four soul surviving young vikings, along with the only non-infected dragon, meandered deep into the woods, their heads hung low while their pride and self-confidence hung even lower. The entire village, along with everyone they knew, was gone, and to make things worse, if the infestation were to continue, all of Berk was in grave danger.

They didn't concern themselves with the big problem just yet, for none of them could find it in them to purge everything that had happened so fast. Two of their friends, Tuffnut and Fishlegs, were left behind, and taken by the horde of bugs that were infecting everyone.

Finally, after a long travel through the woods, sure that they had made a far distance away from any more of those infectious monsters, they came to a stop. Toothless found a nice, soft speck of ground and lied down, as the others hoped off his back. Among them, Snotlout tossed the weapons and shields on the ground and kicked a few rocks that stood in his way and went to lean against a tree, folding his arms, obviously upset.

Ruffnut was upset too - depressed upset, not angry upset - but she expressed it in a different matter of choosing a firm, dry log and sitting on it, resting her chin on her knuckles. It was the truth that she couldn't help but think of her unfortunate brother, whom she had just lost at the hands of bugs. Sure, they didn't get along most of the time they've been together, but they were still siblings, and even if she didn't show it in her life, she cared for him.

Astrid breathed heavily, still standing on her toes, as she sat herself on a rock, exhausted, and laid her axe on her lap. She was still shaking, still trembling after just encountering the nightmarish creatures that had invaded Berk, she could never remember a time when she had ever been more scared than she was now. Although they had just escaped their wraith, those mutant bugs - those alien spiders - were still out there, somewhere.

While she couldn't help but feel stalked - or at least imagining it - she turned her attention to Hiccup, whom was standing reluctantly, staring out into the distance sky. At the least, she felt slightly safe with him around, but seeing that he wasn't falling apart like everyone else, it was rather suspicious to her. Out of all people, she thought he would be the first to crack under the realization that their village had been taken by bugs, but knowing that he had been out in the woods all day, and likely to have seen them first, she understood that he had already caught on to all of this.

Perhaps he knew what they were up against, and maybe he was forming a plan for their next move, a plan to rescue Berk and stop the spiders. Whether he anything or not, he had to be thinking of something as he just stood there, looking up in the sky, but the longer he stood in silence, the more her curiosity grew about him. But her curiosity about that strange crossbow in Hiccup's hand had gotten to her first.

"Now what?" Snotlout snorted, as he appeared to giggle crazily, "We're in a real dung pile now!"

"Will you just stow it, Snotlout." Astrid snapped, not in the mood to hear any of his complaining.

"But the village, Berk, those things, they... they just appeared outta nowhere and took the place!" He panicked, "What're we gonna do?"

"Maybe we can build a campfire and sing a few songs or something..." Hiccup exclaimed, not turning around, "I don't know, just calm down!"

"Don't you tell me to 'calm down' Hiccup!" He barked at the young man, "In case you haven't noticed, those bugs just swooped in and took everything and everyone. Gobber; he's gone... Fishlegs and Tuffnut; they're both gone... all of Berk is gone! And now you're telling me to 'calm down'? Heck, I don't even think you were in any trouble at the time!"

Hiccup didn't respond, nor did he give the slightest reaction to anything he said, and considering one of the most common things that annoyed vikings was to completely ignore them, when he did it, Snotlout was pissed off.

He gave into his anger and charged at the scrawny viking, about to strangle him to death if he got the chance. Snotlout had gotten his hands on Hiccup, but before he could even raise a fist, Astrid knocked him away. She helped Hiccup back to his feet, he returned a thank you to her and recollected the crossbow.

"So, where did you get that?" She asked him, he merely looked at her in confusion. "You said you'd explain later... well it's later now. Where'd you get that crossbow from?"

Just as Hiccup was about to open his mouth to explain, a twig snapped. Astrid spun around, her axe and her guard raised, and soon found a silhouette. A tall, dark man with armored boots, shoulder pads, and trousers, his hair was black and braided with dreadlocks, his weapons were quite unusual for any viking to carry, a machete-type sword, some type of sling shot on his wrist, and a few other pieces of equipment she had never seen. But the most shocking feature was the metallic face - a mask.

This silhouette, this stranger, was such a frightening and menacing sight that it rejected every idea to questioning and convinced her to the number-one option, the attack option. She ran at him with her axe raised, her battle cry gathering everyone else's attention, ready to attack, ready to fight... She might have froze up before, and, without hesitation, selected Hiccup's idea to run, but not this time. No, this time, she was going to fight - to the death, if so be it.

Once Astrid got close enough to attack, she swung her weapon. However, the stranger caught her axe and threw a fist into her gut, knocking the air from her lungs. She gasped as her breath escaped, she lost her hold on her weapon and fell to the ground, a hand over her probably bruised stomach. She could only lay there, curled up in pain, and spot the steel faced stranger, as he loomed over her. Observing her, maybe? Whatever it was, she could only cling to her stomach, as her lack of oxygen led her to unconsciousness.

* * *

**.**


	14. Chapter 14

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

It was him - Fray - who had appeared in the woods, the silhouette of his tall, broad shape was what Hiccup could easily recognize. Even Toothless must've known it was him, considering it he wasn't the one to attack him. Unfortunately, it was Astrid who had seen him and thought he was threat, because she made the first move and charged.

Before he could stop her, she ran at Fray with her axe raised, her usual method of attack, but all it took was a swift punch in her stomach to stop her. Hiccup could only watch as she fell to the ground, gasping before she fell silent and motionless.

Worried, he ran over to the young girl, knelled beside her and checked her pulse, her breathing... Astrid was alive, _thank Odin_, but unconscious, and she'll probably remain that way for a while, which wasn't good when you're out in the open woods.

Hiccup looked up to Fray, "Why did you do that? You didn't have to knock her out like that."

The hunter eyed the fallen viking girl's axe before dropping it and meeting his gaze. "Considering she made the first assault, to disarm and incapacitate her seemed like the necessary response, I wasn't going to let her kill me."

Although slightly angry to just watch the girl of his dreams get mercilessly knocked out, he was relieved that he hadn't down anything worse to her. Astrid just lied there, inhaling and exhaling soft and slowly, while her closed eyes made her look rather peaceful, but he could see some worry and dread in her expression, perhaps it was the thought of a stranger in their presence, and them being at his mercy, that might have worried her.

Explaining everything was going to be a lot harder than it was before.

Hiccup turned his head to catch both Snotlout's and Ruffnut's wide-eye, surprised expression, it was obvious they didn't know what was now going on, between him and the stranger in front of him.

"Oh, right!" He said, feeling self-conscious, "Um... Zhan, this is Snotlout Jorgenson, Ruffnut Thorston, and..." - he gestured to the unconscious girl on the ground - "Astrid Hofferson. Guys, meet Zhan Fray."

The two silent young vikings gave him a nervous wave as they stared at him, as if he were a monster or something. Regardless of whatever they thought, he must not even cared.

"Pleasure." He simply said, his arms folded in front of his chest as he counted Hiccup and his three friends, "Are you all that made it?"

Hiccup hesitated, unsure whether to answer or not. "Yes," he admitted, "It's just me, Toothless, Astrid, Ruffnut and Snotlout. We couldn't save anyone else."

He appeared to snort, "Even armed and you could only save three young bloods... and I expected more." Fray replied, he sounded as if he was making fun of him.

"I don't see what's so funny, we just lost our village, we're the last vikings of Berk, and you're laughing at me," Hiccup shot back, angry. "And where've you been all this time? You could've helped but you just gave me a weapon and told me 'good luck.' I mean, what were you doing out here while I was trying to save the village?"

Fray dropped his arms and reached behind the bush he stood next to, Hiccup quickly pulled the drowsed off Astrid out of the way as the hunter pulled and tossed a dead animal in front of him. "Hunting."

Aside from the outrage of an answer he would look into later, the dead creature Fray had just dumped in front of him was - just like the mutant spiders - nothing he hadn't seen before. It had to be related to the bugs in some where, consider the creature's features looked as horrifying as they were. It has six long legs, the same spinning tail, only with a large thorn on its tip, and, the most disturbing feature of it, a head that resembled a human's skull, with a mouth, and the mouth had sharp teeth.

Ruffnut gasped, Snotlout backed away in shock, and even Toothless growled at it. Hiccup felt some of his breathing increase as a shiver ran down his spine. This new creature was even more frightening than those parasitic crawlers that possessed everyone, and the longer he stared at it, the more clearer the revelation became. Everything he had just encountered wasn't the worst of it.

"What... is this?" Hiccup asked, nearly speechless at the sight.

"Wish I knew," Fray replied, "all I know is that they may be involved with the smaller crawlers, and that there's more than we thought was even possible. But I'm gonna look into this trophy first, see how its purpose is connected. If you're interested in staying alive, and not running into these things unprepared, I suggest you come with me."

Without taking a minute to hear their response, the hunter had already recollected the larger mutant, grabbing hold of it by its neck, and started to hike through the woods. He was leaving whatever desired choice to them, and if they wanted to come or not, he wouldn't care.

Hiccup glanced at the two, still equally spooked young vikings. "Well guys, I don't see any other options, so I say we go with him."

"Seriously?" Snotlout snorted, unbelieving, "You really think following the guy carrying the dead, spider-like monster back to his hut is a good idea?"

He was making something of a good point, but the scrawny young viking was already loading Astrid onto the Night Fury, lying her gently onto the dragon's saddle. "Better idea than waiting around here for a live monster to show up."

"He's gotta point, there," Ruffnut told him, "help with anyone, especially this madman, is better than no help at all."

"Are you sure about that?"

Neither Ruffnut nor Hiccup answered, they both just started down the path, following Fray and his "prize", as the dragon followed suit, carrying the unconscious, blond girl. Snotlout, feeling a little dumbstruck that everyone, whom he thought would have some common sense, had gone along with the idea of following this stranger, this hunter. Regardless he shrugged, and caught up with the others. Better than being left behind in this hell of an ordeal.

As he left, however, left behind in their current resting place, Astrid's axe lied on the dirt, forgotten by the others.

* * *

**Commentary: **


	15. Chapter 15

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

After the long, and rather boring hike through the woods, Snotlout Jorgenson was beginning to complain, his feet obviously couldn't take any more, "Hey! Steel face! Are we there yet?"

"Yes, we're closer than the last time you asked?" Fray replied, annoyed with the young blood's impatience. It would seem, out of the four children he was apparently stuck with, Jorgenson would be the most to complain and argue with future decisions, mostly because he was panicking, freaked out by everything that has occurred in the last few short hours.

Honestly, he didn't know how he had suddenly become their babysitter, perhaps it might have been a mistake to offer aid to young Haddock. The scrawny young man, his friends, and his "pet" would just get in his way of figuring out what these things were. He already new enough of the small bugs, but the bigger bugs was something new, and perhaps he already had an idea about them.

Soon, after the hike, they finally reached his cottage, where the lanterns he had left lit were still illuminating out his windows. From a distance, it would look as if someone where still home, but for anyone within twenty-five feet of the shack would see only the lanterns, but no silhouettes pacing anywhere behind the windows.

He had left it that way for the purpose of spotting his own home for late-night stakeouts, and no creature with any type of intelligence would dare approach the cottage of a fierce warrior, especially a hunter such as himself.

He approached his front door and turned back to Haddock and the other young bloods, but as he led the Night Fury towards his home's entrance Fray held up a hand in denial. "The Night Fury cannot come through this way," he told him.

Haddock looked back at his steel mask, his face shaped a wary and less than confident expression. Fray then glanced at the Night Fury, which appeared to like his exclaim even less.

"The front door is too small for him, he'll have to enter around the back shake," the hunter added, as the young man accepted his demand and turned to the dragon, assisting the still unconscious Hofferson off its saddle.

Fray gently rested his catch, the giant, mutanted spider, onto his front poarch, as he began to work the door's lock. It had a specific combination - a code - connected with three rotating mechanisms that rigged together. He flipped each mechanism in the correct position, whereas the code was placed, and then he opened the door.

He recollected the dead creature and turned around, spotting the slouching Thorston, and upset expression on her face, followed by the now suddenly silent Jorgenson, whom was carrying Hofferson, as the young bloods made their way into his cottage. He found Haddock, who hadn't followed the others, instead was still by the Night Fury's side.

At first, Fray didn't understand a thing of why Haddock would really want to risk another second of life just to secure a pet - never mind a pet _dragon_- from harm. Nevertheless, he didn't really care for his compassion for the beast, all he cared for the moment was that gettting into safety before one of those big bugs - one alive and fully hostile - shows up.

"Right this way," he told the young man, as he dragged the dead creature's carcus to the back entrance, the slaughter room, and also - for perhaps for the time being - his dissection room. Perhaps it wouldn't be all that comfortable for the Night Fury, but it would at least surfice for shielding it from any unexpected rain, and otherwise, hopefully. Being noticed was the last thing he wanted his cottage to be to any more monsters.

Not too far behind, Fray could hear the boy and the dragon follow him.

* * *

While Fray fumbled with the lock of his cottage's front door, Hiccup carefully lifted Astrid from Toothless's saddle and handed her to Snotlout, "Here. Take her to the nearest chair or mattress or whatever you can find and set her down gently," he told him in a whispering voice.

The other boy nodded, whether it was by understatement or satisfaction.

Just as the hunter opened the front door, Ruffnut walked in first, her palms joined and her head lowered, obviously still upset about her brother, as she entered the near dark air of the cottage. Snotlout and Astrid followed her inside, leaving him and Toothless with the hunter, as he brought the giant mutant spider around to the back.

As Fray opened the door, it was the unpleasant smell that made Toothless back away slightly, as well as make Hiccup shuddered, clearly nothing within the back room entrance was something they were going to like. "It's okay, buddy," he told him, unaware of what was coming next.

He and the dragon stepped inside - squeezing through the large, but still tight doorway - and instantly his breath abandoned him and a knot formed in his stomach. All around the back room was several blood stains, along with buckets placed all around the floor, desks that held several shaped butcher knives, and hooks held up from the ceiling - each holding a skinned swine's body.

Hiccup held in a gag and swallowed, "I'm guessing your butcher does his job right at your place?" He asked the hunter, as Fray marched in and tossed the creature onto the center desk.

"No," he replied, picking up one of the knives, "I am my own butcher."

"Okay!" Hiccup squeaked nervously, having second thoughts about leaving Toothless in here alone, with this somewhat crazy hunter AND butcher. "So... you're gonna skin that thing and eat it, the thing that you hardly have any idea what it is?"

"No, I'm gonna dissect it and study it," he corrected, "There IS a difference."

"Sure there is," he replied, looking around for a dry spot, one particularily without blood, but sadly, there wasn't one in sight. Either way, he knew Toothless wouldn't accept sitting or lying down somewhere in _here_, especially with Fray around. Although he didn't feel all that threatened or the need to be fully alert around him, he still didn't trust him. Not by a long shot.

"Uh, isn't there another place Toothless could stay?" He asked, "maybe somewhere close to here and safe, and most of all... _clean_?" He looked up to meet Fray's rather frightening glare. "No offense."

"There's the tool shack," he told him, "That's on the side of the cot. You can use that, as long as your pet doesn't brake anything."

"Thanks," Hiccup replied, and began to lead the Night Fury back out of the slaughterhouse of a room, whereas Toothless was more than happy to oblige. As the dragon pulled through the doorway, the young man looked back at Fray, and to the dead creature. "That's a pretty interesting prize you've got there..."

"I know," the hunter returned, "when I've finished studying it, I'll mount it on the wall with my other trophies."

"Okay..." he exclaimed, feeling some displeasure of knowing that, but nevertheless he hurried outside and started for the tool shack. Leaving the "scientist" to his specimen to study.

He led Toothless over to the tool shack, a dark and rather unpleasant looking shed, it looked very frightening to him, already reminding him of a past nightmare. The Night Fury didn't look too satisfied with going in there, in fact, Hiccup barely wanted to walk up to it himself, but it was surely better than having him stay in the slaughterhouse, and it would at least keep him safe from rain and more of those bugs.

He pushed the door open and lit a match on the nearest lantern, he ushered the dragon on a nice, and actually soft bed of hay, "Okay Toothless, I know this shack might not be a funhouse, but it'll keep you hidden in case more of those things show up."

Hiccup patted the black dragon's scaley head and then stood up to head for the door, only to feel the dragon grab the back of his furred vest in his teeth, preventing him from leaving.

"Don't worry Toothless, I'm not gonna leave you behind in push comes to shove, I'll just be in the hut. Everyone else will probably need me more than you will, and Astrid... she's going to want a good explanation for all of this, you know how she's like. She get's a little curious and that probably means trouble for us, and I'm gonna have to break it down slowly."

The Night Fury lowered his head, letting the scrawny boy understand that he had the understatement.

"Don't worry Toothless, I'll come check on you in a while, I promise. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, but I can't let anything happen to the others, either. I promise." Hiccup told him, and then walked out the shed, leaving the Night Fury in the darkness, his own natural born element.

* * *

**...**


	16. Chapter 16

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

After leaving Toothless within the unsure safety of Fray's tool shed, Hiccup silently slipped back into the cottage. He used the front door this time, considering the back room was the hunter's little dissection lab, where he had a specimen of his own to study, that and he didn't feel comfortable strolling through a place that resembled the inside of a slaughterhouse.

He found Astrid, still unconscious and lying on a filthy-cushion couch, Ruffnut was seated in a chair, lost in her thoughts and hesitation, and Snotlout was - actually, he didn't see him anywhere to be found.

"Hey, where'd Snotlout go?" He asked Ruffnut, whom seemed too preoccupied with her thoughts to answer. He looked all around the room, not spotting a large, muscular viking in sight. All the time he wondered where he had gone, if he had left the cottage - but to do what?

"Boo!" The words whispered in his ear as a pair of hands fell on his shoulders, making him jump nearly out of his boots. He spun around to see, who else, standing their with a smiling face and ill-humored laughter.

"Okay, that wasn't funny. Maybe it would have been funny at some other time, but not this time. Not with all that has happened already."

"Yeah I know, but what am I suppose to do about it. It's not so easy just sitting around here, waiting for something to happen, like it is for her." -He pointed at Ruffnut, who glared at him - "Those things are out there, the tiny, creepy-crawlers and bigger ones too, how can I sit still knowing that?"

"Snotlout, just relax, okay. I mean, the least you could've done was just look all around here for a weapons cache or something around here."

"But won't your friend, Steel-face, mind if we play with any of his toys?"

"No, he's pretty busy with the dead mutant spider he got tonight." Hiccup replied, "I bet he's gonna try and find a weakness or something."

"Oh, and you believe he can find a cure to all of this, to fix everything and everyone? I mean, can you even trust the guy?"

"Of course I trust him, it's you I'm undecided about trusting." He told him.

"Hey, c'mon, I'm not gonna stab you in the back or anything," Snotlout said in his defense.

"I know, you're not the best at handling blades," he said, and turned away to look for that weapon storage, unwillingly eluding Snotlout's semi-glare. "Now let's see, if I were a hunter, where would I hide my weapons?"

He looked all around and finally came across a lone, and rather odd curtain. Curious, he reached out and grabbed it in his hand, wondering of the odd series of tapping and clicking sounds he was hearing behind it, and pulled it to the side to find... _me_. Rapidly typing on my laptop's keyboard while I sipped my mug of hot chocolate.

"Martian Scout?" Hiccup said, confused by my breach of the fourth wall.

Him revealing my hiding spot startled me, nearly making me choke on my hot chocolate. I quickly set down my mug and snatched the curtains, "Pay no attention to the writer behind the curtains." I told them, before pulling them back over my hiding spot.

Letting pass his discovery of me, Hiccup searched through the next door, and to his satisfaction, he found the what he was looking for. Fray's weapon storage room had quite an impressive arsenal, there were knives, bows, crossbows, uncountable arrows, a few axes and maces, but plenty of swords, machetes, some wrist slings, wrist knives, and plenty of shields. Obviously a suitable arsenal in case push came to shove.

"Hey guys, I found them," he called to others, picking up a shield and turning to meet Snotlout's and Ruffnut's surprised expression, "You two okay?"

Neither of them answered, they both just held that same fear-strucked feature, their eyes wide, their jaws slack, and their bottom lip quivering. Curious, Hiccup turned around slowly, onto meet the head - no, the skull! - to Monstrous Nightmare dragon, just hanging over the the storage door, over him.

The sight of this deceased creature's skull, mounted on the wall like so type of trophy, disturbed him, in fact, a slight, silent yelp passed his lips as his fingers released the shield. The piece of wood fell to the floor, creating something of a _thump!_ - and rolled away, forgotten.

He turned his attention to another wall, this one over a desk with a lit lantern on it. This wall had more skulls - more "trophies" - littered on it. As he observed them he capably identified each and every single one. On the wall were skulls of Deadly Nadder, Hideous Zippleback, Gronkle, Ogre, Jabberwocky, and many frightening creatures that populate this world.

Hiccup's breath became low and deep, he felt some slight nausea, almost as if he was about to vomit and faint. Miraculously, he merely ran to the window, stuck his head out, and vomited.

"Yeah, I feel your same disturbance, Hiccup," Snotlout told him, "You're not alone."

The scrawny boy retracted himself and wiped his mouth, still feeling a little woozy. It was rather impressive to his pride that he hadn't faint yet. "Yikes, I was not prepared for that," he said, looking back at the wall of skulls, "I can't believe this. I've never seen anything like this, and it all happened before I met Toothless." - He reached for one of the skulls.

"Don't touch my trophies," Fray's rough voice snapped, enough to make him jump. He turned to meet the hunter's steel masked face, and to a neutral notice, he found the hunter gripping his left arm.

"Oh... uh, sorry." Hiccup apologized, and quickly changed the conversation, "By the way, did you learn anything about that thing you've got in the butchery?"

"Yes, in fact, I have," he replied, as he took himself a seat in the chair by his desk. He studied his arm, "There's a type of chemical within their blood that acts like a paralysis venom, and they have the means to spew it out upon a victim, if they have the chance. Some fell on my arm and now, well now I can't feel my arm," - he held out his left arm, as it fell limp in front of Hiccup.

The young man watched as he took a bowie knife out and placed its tip on his arm. He shivered as the hunter cut himself, letting a few drops of blood flow before placing a finger to block his bleeding.

"And you see, I didn't even feel a thing," Fray told him, as he began to bandage up his arm. "I think this venom's effect will wear off shortly, but I cannot say when."

"Well, that's an interesting theory, but it doesn't point out a weakness. But wouldn't the smaller spiders have need it more than the big ones? I mean, what's the deal here?"

"I'm not sure, but to tell you the truth, it's not the pipsqueaks and their larger brethren that have my interest," the hunter said, as he cut the bandage to level it out. "It's the Queen."

That last word caught every waking soul's attention. "The what?"

"The matriarch of all these crawling bugs all over the place," - he explained - "They've all had to come from somewhere, right? And it seems likely that they came from a Hive somewhere on Berk."

"But, didn't we come to an understatement that they came from trees?"

"Yes, but when I took down the creature, I found this" - he held out a yellow, orb-like object, that looked suspiciously like an egg - "hidden underneath its protection. So I'm guessing the eggs were put into the trees, done by their larger brethren."

"Wait, you're saying..." Snotlout began, "you're saying there's some giant mother bugger out there in the woods that's been laying eggs so that each of those bigger spiders carry their little brothers and sisters to the woods to slip them inside trees so they can hatch and turn people into zombies? Is that it?"

"It would seem so, yes."

"Then why? What do they want, I mean, what kinda food are they after?"

"Considering they took the village, I'm guessing that might provide you with an answer."

"Wait. Then... why was it only the small bugs that came, why not the bigger ones? Are they even dangerous?"

"Considering it's more armed and equipped for a more independent life, yes. But why they weren't the ones who captured your village remains a question. But all I can learn from the specimen is that the larger spiders are equipped for hunting and catching their prey, but not killing them."

"What good will that do them?"

"It's so they can capture their prey, alive," Hiccup explained, "and once their immobilized, they can bring them where ever they want. If I had to guess, they'd bring them to the Hive."

"What happens after that?" - neither of them answered, clearly they hadn't gotten that far. "You guys don't know? I thought you were the smart ones."

"What's that make you?" Fray shot back, as he leaned back in his seat, folding his arms. "Wake me when I'm needed," he told them, as he head fell back slowly.

* * *

**...**


	17. Chapter 17

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

While he rested himself into a slumber, Astrid began to feel more sentient and awake. The first thing she felt was the remnant pain of her punched gut, but her breathing had adapted successfully. She made herself aware of her surroundings before she made any further attempts to get up, she felt her own body on top of a soft surface, and the air had the warmth of a cabin.

Suspicious, she opened an eye to scout her current area, finding herself inside of a cottage, with a few familiar faces. First, she was actually quite puzzled of where the cottage was, and how and why she was brought here. Question stirred in her mind, and the more she waited, the more her curiosity and confounded self grew.

Thankfully, she was among friends; there was Ruffnut, seated on a chair nearest to him, Hiccup and Snotlout were talking and organizing a few swords and crossbows, and seated on the chair over by the desk...

To her extreme shock, it was him - the steel masked silhouette from the woods who had knocked her out. Well, incapacitated her when she attacked him, because she thought he was a threat. But regardless, he still seemed like a threat, more so than those bugs who infested Berk, but her anger towards the bugs aimed at him.

She summoned her strength, unwillingly letting a groan escape her lips, and tried to sit up, only to slump back in the cushion. However, her struggling noises rallied the boy's attention, and Hiccup handed the shield he was holding to Snotlout and scurried over to her.

"Astrid, are you okay?" He asked, lying only gentle hands on her.

She nodded and allowed him to help her sit up properly, but she never took her gaze away from the stranger, "What's he doing here?"

Hiccup glanced back at him and looked at her, "Well, this is his house, so I'm guessing he lives here," he explained, adding a little mild humor.

She didn't laugh, instead, she gave him a long look, "Then what are we doing here with him?"

"We don't have any where else to go, this is the safest place for miles, and Zhan" - he pointed to the masked stranger - "offered us some protection. He's seems to have an idea of what we're up against and..."

It didn't matter how much he tried to explain to her, only one word out of all of his mumbling had caught her attention. "Wait... Who?" She asked, "Zhan? - As in Zhan Fray?"

"Yeah, why? Is he famous or something?"

Upon hearing the conclusive answer, Astrid's stare widened on the masked man. Zhan Fray? The same man with different combat methods, who didn't fight dragons - but instead "hunted" them, and the same man who went into exile? It couldn't be.

"Zhan Fray. Don't you remember the tales from the bonfire, the stories we were told when we were young children?" - they all shook their heads - "Well, I heard a story about a viking who was once named the best of the best, one of the most skillful fighters in Berk, he would have made an excellent dragon fighter, but he didn't choose it. Instead, he wanted to be a hunter.

"He had a sense of sport, in which he believed that a fight between two opponents should be a fair fight, and when he was in dragon training, he followed that belief and fought with each dragon with his bare hands. Eventually, he became the top student of dragon training, and he was respected by many, while he inspired many others," she told the story.

"Wait," Snotlout stopped her, "You're saying that Fray, sir Steel Face, use to be the top student in dragon training? Even better than you were?"

"Yes." She replied, acknowledging their shocked expressions. Clearly it was a complete surprise to them to hear her admit someone was better than she was, and frankly, it surprised her too.

"Well," Hiccup stuttered, "What happened?"

"Eventually, he got so good he was able to graduate from dragon training and become a full pledged viking, he was to slay a dragon, a Monstrous Nightmare, for his final test. He fought gallantly and promisingly, but thanks to one unlucky maneuver, the dragon managed to scarred him across the face, and then everything went wrong.

"It was some type of shock to him," she explained, "he couldn't aim correctly after wards, every time he shot an arrow or threw a spear at it, he always missed. And worst of all, he lost the fight with the dragon, as it finally knocked him out. He was lucky enough to be alive, but the scar, and the condition, it left him with never recovered, and after that day, he never showed his face in Berk again."

"Oh..." Hiccup nodded, looking at Fray and back, "The reason he wears that mask, is that why he never showed his face to anyone ever again?"

"No. Well yes, but it wasn't just that, he left Berk and went into exile," Astrid said, "and the legend of Fray was just a bonfire story to warn young vikings of the consequences for making severe mistakes."

There was a brakeout of silence and hesitation as she ended the story, and as they all looked at Fray, she could see the sympathy they were all feeling.

"But..." Hiccup began, "but he's not given up, he's still that same warrior he was before. He killed and dragged a big, mutant spider - about the same size as Toothless - all the way to his home. He has all of those skulls on his wall like trophies."

"And why would he do all of that?"

"To dissect it and learn about those spiders, to find out the source of where it comes from, and he's already got a few answers, they came from a Hive, controlled by a Queen..."

"Not them; the trophies." Astrid corrected.

"Oh... well, see, he hunted them... He likes to hunt a lot of things, he's a sporting hunter, I'd say."

"Is that a good thing?"

"I hope so."

With that conclusion, Astrid called her strength back and sat up, grunting at the pain that was still residing in her stomach. Hiccup offered some help, but she waved him away and stood up, looking around in confusion, "Where's my axe?"

"Your axe?" He repeated, and immediately slapped his forehead, "Aww man! We forgot to pick it up, it's back in the woods!"

"What?" She exclaimed, shocked.

"It's okay, don't worry, I'll go get it," Hiccup offered, started for the door.

"No," - she stopped him - "It's too dangerous out there with those things, I can't let you go alone."

"Don't worry, I'll have Toothless with me."

"No, I mean I'm coming too. That is, after all, my weapon out there."

"Look, I'd feel more comfortable if you all stayed here. I feel like it's some how my fault we're in this mess, at least let me take the risk."

"Yeah, let him go." - Snotlout said - "I'll hold down the fort and watch over the girls."

"Actually, why don't _you_ go get it?" Astrid suggested.

"What, are you crazy? I'm not going out there with those big suckers running around, I'm not stupid!"

"I'll go." Ruffnut offered. "I mean, I'm the only one who probably remembers where we were when we met with Fray, anyway. I'll go."

"Okay, fine, she can go, and we can stay here and hold down the fort. Sounds like a good plan to me!" Snotlout agreed. "Let her go!"

"Snotlout, you can be such a coward some times, you know?" Hiccup told him, as Ruffnut started for the door. "Hey Ruffnut," - he handed her an axe from Fray's arsenal - "be careful out there, It's a jungle."

"I though it was a forest," she replied, "then why was Martian Scout calling it a 'woods'?"

Despite how much they wanted to know, it was a pointless question. So with that, she stepped out of the cottage, the weapon in hand, and startd out into the - (what, woods, forest, jungle, what do you people want me to call it?) - collection of trees. While the rest of them sat patiently awaiting their return.

* * *

**...**


	18. Chapter 18

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Alone and finally in peaceful solitude away from the other pondering and brainstorming young vikings, Ruffnut made her way through the forest, searching for Astrid's accidentally left behind axe. Sure, she had heard and heeded their warnings about it being dangerous out here with all of those bugs out here, in fact, she thought that she herself would be the last person to go out here, especially seeing those in action, when one stole her brother.

It had been the most scariest event of her life, despite it being only a few short minutes, and now he was walking around like some poorly-operated puppet, just everyone else now. She felt frightened, depressed, and... angry, enraged, and hateful towards those bugs. She didn't mind going out there, mostly because she hoped she would run into any of those small little demons - considering she was armed - so she could kill them, as many as she could.

Perhaps vengeance wouldn't resolve anything, and it certainly wouldn't bring her brother back, but she didn't care, she just wanted to take something from them, to achieve some satisfaction to replace her broken spirit. She just wanted to kill them all, and if she ran into any of them, she'd give them something to be scared of.

Ruffnut hiked through the forest, passing numerous trees that merely did what they did best - stand around. She could hear several crickets chirping the night's song, the only thing that kept her company and prevented her from going insane over the natural silence. It was just so dark and spooky here, with the night time's shade's dominance and reign over it all.

She kept her breathing stable, however, trying not to inhale the cold chill that threatened to run through her, to send shivers up her spine. Not up "and down" her spine, they'd be too scared to run down. The air was thick and freezing on the dark night, with its moist brush against her skin it created goosebumps, her hand trembled as it held the weapon firmly.

After a seemingly long hike through the forest, she finally came across the area where they were united with the hunter, and it was there she found exactly what she was looking for. Astrid's axe was lying out into the dirt, slightly covered in a little mud, but none of that would be a problem, it could simply be cleaned with a rag.

She sauntered over to the axe and picked it up, wondering exactly why the boys were so eager to recover it for her, it looked common with some special design, but she couldn't see the value of it.

Suddenly, a series of hissing and clattering sounds echoed through the forest, and Ruffnut immediately stood to defense stance, tying the reclaimed axe to her belt as she held her own in front of her. She might have been scared, but the rage and the lust for revenge made her determined to fight them, regardless if she could win or not. Either way, she'd fight if she had to.

Ruffnut spun around in every direction, trying to locate the source of the sound as it echoed, sounding as if it was coming from everywhere. She couldn't spot a mutant spider anywhere, not little nor big, it was aware that she was knew she was being watched, but it seemed to hold back and wait, making several of its clicking and hissing noises to confuse her.

It was teasing her. Now she was really angry.

She inhaled deeply to silence herself, trying to listen for the exact source of the annoying bug that was playing with her. To her right ear, she detected that bone-chilling hissing, while several skinny legs clattered as they crawled up on the tree was some momentary silence, and then there was a mildly loud screech, she turned her head to see the teasing bug leaping at her.

Before she had time to duck, the creature slapped against her face, knocking her to the ground. She quickly grabbed at the bug and pulled it off before it could wrap its legs around her skull, and tossed it away from her. As it leaped back to its six legs, she raised her axe, pinned its spiny-tail down with her boot - holding it in place, and slammed her blade down on it, slicing it in two.

Both pieces of the creature rattled under her foot, as she took advantage of it and spat on the bug, just before it fell motionless and died.

Ruffnut breathed normally, inhaling the much appreciated adrenaline, and felt satisfied. But now it was time to go, she had what she came for, and she killed at least one of those bugs to ease her lust for vengeance.

She turned around - about to head back to the cottage - only to meet with the frightening, ugly face of a bug. A Tarantula. Now frightened out of her mind, she stepped back, her fingers losing their hold on her weapon, as the larger bug hissed, baring its sharp-looking teeth. On its back was the smaller, infection-spiders, hissing with something that looked like eagerness.

She kept backing away, moving a little more faster, as she thought about running, hoping that when she saw the perfect timing, she would make a break for it. Head back to the safety of the cottage and tell the others about-

Before she could fully progress the plan in her mind, the Tarantula hissed in a different tone - at the same time - spraying some thick saliva all over her face and torso.

In her opinion, it was downright disgusting, and she certainly didn't seek any comfort and standing around, waiting for it to spit at her again. She decided now was the time, she spun around and ran back into the direction of the cottage, where her friends would surely prepare themselves for when that thing comes ramming at the door. Of course, she would need to come up with an apology first.

Slowly, as she hurriedly made her way through the forest, her sprinting began to reduce and turn into limping, as she began to feel a little sluggish suddenly. Her arms flopped at her sides, their strength quickly fading with each second, until she couldn't form fists with them anymore. She lost control of her legs, as they kept scurrying until the lost hold of the ground, and she fell head first onto the ground.

Regardless, she tried to prop herself up, tried to at least crawl away, but it was futile. She grew weaker and weaker, more limp, as she lied there, until she slumped on the ground completely motionless, unable to even twitch a finger. But she was still aware of everything around her, she just couldn't seem to move any part of her body, all the while she wondered what was happening to her.

Then she remembered the venom - of which Fray spoke of - the substance that could paralyze victims and prey. Of course, how else would she be falling flat on her face like this? The bug had paralyzed her, immobilized her, and now here she was, at the mercy of anything that might stroll by and happen to find her lying on her side.

She found the bugs looming over her, the Tarantula studying her while the smaller one leaped off its back and landed next to her. It's long, spiny-tail curled and pointed at her, as if observing her - or sniffing her - as it hissed with some satisfaction. Ruffnut watched as it crawled around her, and when she felt it touch her immobilized body, she screamed. Well, not out loud.

* * *

"So, we're up against bigger bugs than the ones that've been infecting everyone," Astrid said, sighing with anxiety, "That's just great. What do we have to work with?"

"Well, we've got a full arsenal to rely on; plenty of shields, swords, axes, bows, crossbows, and arrows," Hiccup listed, "and each of us can at least hold both a shield and a sword, or an axe, but we'll need both hands to manage a bow, or a crossbow. So just the three of us should be able to hold out here, as long as not too many of those creatures show up. Plus, we've got Toothless hiding in the tool shed, and Fray."

He motioned to the hunter, sleeping on the chair with his arms folded and head lying back, the mask on top of his face.

"Is that such a good thing?" She asked, "I mean, can we really insure that we can trust him, and that he can help us?"

"Of course we can, the guy collected skulls from hundreds of creature, half of them dragons, and he kill and brought a big mutant spider, a big Tarantula creature, all the way to here so he could study. All without getting a scratch."

"I guess that's some sorta improvement" - Snotlout said, seated on the couch - "considering he has that large scar across his face. I mean, why else would he still wear that mask of his?"

"Yeah, but are you sure about that? He probably just doesn't want to show his face to anyone because... well, maybe because he feels ashamed or something."

"Oh really? Then go check it out."

Hiccup was taken off guard by the suggestion - or, the demand - Snotlout gave him, "What? No, I'm not gonna take his mask off while he's sleeping."

"Why, scared?"

"No, because... because I think it's kinda rude."

"Look, just do it, okay? You know him more than we sure do, so I doubt he'll try to kill you or anything."

He sighed, "Fine, only if it gets you off my back."

"Relax, if he does try to hurt, you can always carry a shield with you."

"Screw you, Snotlout," Hiccup cursed, as he took a deep breath and carefully approached the hunter.

As he stood right beside him, he could hear a few silent snores from underneath that piece of steel. Fray's chest rose and fell slowly, heavy breaths as he sat back and slumbered, and in a way, Hiccup began to feel like he was walking through quicksand. It was very delicate, and extremely dangerous, to try something discreet and probably offensive to someone like him, he could easily snap Hiccup like a twig, if he wasn't careful.

Slowly he raised his hand and - after swallowing the lump in his throat - placed his palm onto of the metal faceplate-surface of the mask. Fray didn't give any sign to show if he had woken up, regardless Hiccup kept himself cautious, the first wrong move and his attempt will be his undoing.

Carefully, he took a good hold of the mask, while Astrid and Snotlout leaned close from their watching spots for a better look. _If only they had popcorn_. Hiccup exhaled and began to pull it off, only to be taken off guard as the hunter's hand instantly snatched the young man's wrist in a firm, tight grip, causing him, along with his friends, to yelp.

Fray, now fully awake, sat up to look at him, not freeing the young man's wrist from his hold. He glanced at him and back at his friends, "Never try that again," he told them all, "none of you ever touch my mask." He warned, before releasing Hiccup and doing a head count. "Wait, weren't there four of you?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. See, Ruffnut" - Hiccup explained - "went out into the forest to get something. An axe we left behind by mistake."

"And you let her go alone?"

"Hey, she offered," Snotlout pointed out, "she's got an axe with her. I'm sure she can handle herself."

"Has it ever occured that even if she does get away, she could end up leading a horde of bugs here?"

They all fell silent, "Oh snap!" Hiccup exclaimed. Of course! Why hadn't they thought it through? Ruffnut might have been tough, but she wasn't all that bright, to admit the least, and she would definitely retreat to the cottage if she was in danger or not, and certainly unwillingly lead them here. If that was true, then it meant they would be in danger in the next few minutes.

"Hiccup, Snotlout, get some shields bearing at the windows," Astrid ordered, "but keep the doors unlocked for Ruffnut. If you see her, let me know."

As both the boys got to work, Fray simply sat there on his seat, adjusting his wrist sling and knives. Sure, he was aware that they were in danger, but he didn't see the need to barricade everything in his own home. She could read him plainly, understanding exactly how he is and has been his whole life - she could read him say "If they want a fight, let them in and I'll give 'em one."

Although she now thought him crazy, she didn't care for his search for trouble, all that mattered was staying alive.

* * *

**...**


	19. Chapter 19

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

All of the windows of the hunter's cottage were barricaded with shields, as far as Hiccup could see, but in case they needed an emergency exit, a way of getting out of there and to Toothless, he keep one opening as a last resort. While he, Astrid and Snotlout were turning the cabin into a fortress, to keep out the bugs, Fray simply remain seated on his chair. He merely fiddling with an auto-reload crossbow, adjusting and inserting a barrel cartridge into it, as everyone else did the work.

He finally stopped where he was and glanced at him, "What are you doing?" He asked, as the hunter's steel masked face rose to him.

"Preparing," he replied, looking back down to his crossbow.

"Preparing? If you help us barricade everything, that would be make more sense to prepare for something," he pointed out, "We can't let them get in here."

"You really think stacking chairs and furniture is gonna keep them out? Not likely. A swarm of those tiny parasites invaded all of Berk without hardly any problems, who's to say the Tarantulas can't break through to here. So I'm not preparing for if they get in, I'm preparing for when they do. I suggest you do the same."

"What? But, I don't - I can't handle a weapon," Hiccup admitted.

"Maybe you can, maybe you can't, but anyhow" - he held out the crossbow in clear view - "this is an automatic-reloading crossbow, or because we're stuck in this mess together, you can call it the 'ARC-bow', and it'll probably be the easiest weapon you'll ever have to wield. Just wrap your finger around the trigger and squeeze, just hold it for a rapid barrage of arrows, and when it runs out, just pull out the old barrel, slap in a new one, and you should be set."

"Yeah, but... won't I just get myself killed if I tried?"

"Probably, yes - but it would've been an honorable effort. Plus, you've been quite lucky enough to last this long, you might just make part-way through it all."

Hiccup sighed, "Gee... thanks."

Suddenly, the sound of a thumb was heard, coming from the back room, the butchery. Everyone looked to that door's direction, all now very suspicious and cautious, but none of them appeared more so than Fray.

"Take this," he handed the ARC-bow to Hiccup, as the boy gave the weapon a curious look. The hunter drew a bowie knife and slowly made his way to the back room, disappearing behind the door.

"Hey, hey guys," Snotlout called, standing beside the window. "I think I see something."

"What is it?" Astrid asked, walking over to the spot next to him.

"I'm not sure, I think it's..." After a careful observation, the answer came, "It's Ruffnut! She's back! Go open the door!"

As Snotlout ran to the door, Astrid squinted for a better look at the familiar silhouette of Ruffnut, it was definitely her, but somewhere behind her, out into the forest, another odd looking silhouette. This one bigger and looking a lot more frightening. "Wait, something's not right," she warned them.

They appeared not to have heard her, as they cleared last of the barricade from the entrance and opened the door. They found Ruffnut right behind the door, two axes - one of them Astrid's - in each of her hands. As she stepped further in the light, both Hiccup and Snotlout began to fully make out her image from the dark.

She just stood there in front of them, motionless with her expression blank, and that same, crazy look in her eye matched those of... Hiccup's breath went cold, "Uh... Ruffnut?" He called, anxiously.

The silent viking girl stepped closer into the light, her expression and eyes now fully visible, and her eyes were wide and her pupils shrunk. And lingering over her shoulder, they all spotted a small, spiny tail extending from her back, facing their direction.

* * *

"Take this," Fray pushed the auto-reload crossbow in Haddock's hands as he stood up and headed for the butchery, curious and en guard of the strange thump that came from the back room, where he had last left the dead carcass of that Tarantula bug. It seemed quite suspicious that it so happens to be the case, no coincidence there, but he had killed that thing good enough to skin it and eat it.

That thought actually made it tempting.

Armed with his bowie knife in his firm grip, he pushed the door open and was greeted with the smell of blood and dead animal remnants. He scanned the back room, finding dried up blood covering the walls and floors, as well as dead animal carcases strung up from the ceiling, nothing new here. It was exactly as he left it, except, however, for something that wasn't there - the skinning table, where he had last left the giant, mutated bug, was cleared. The bug was gone.

Fray's breath fell silent as he crouched, searching and listening for every sound and movement, his bowie knife at his ready as he stepped softly through the butchery. He kept a lookout in every direction, searching for anything that might surprise or jump out at him. He found it rather odd that a new specimen would just disappear, and he doubted any of the young bloods took it away. Something wasn't right.

Hissing began to echo through the room, it was more louder, more fierce and more frightening than the smaller spiders' were, and once a shadow leaped across the light of the indoor lantern, he spun around. But he saw nothing in sight - nothing near the lantern, as if there was a ghost in the room, playing tricks on him.

He sighed and turned around, but froze as he heard another shrill from the bug, he searched all around the surface, only to find nothing. Out of curiosity, Fray glanced up to find - what he was looking for - the Tarantula, clinging to the ceiling with all six of its legs, it hissed at him from above, barring its long, sharp jaws. Without warning it shrieked as it released itself from the ceiling and toppling over him.

* * *

"Hiccup, move!" Astrid shouted and tackled him, pushing him out of the way as the possessed and zombified Ruffnut attacked. She shrieked and charged at them, both axes swung in their direction, and likely to have killed them if they didn't evade them in time. Her movements were a little sloppy and without proper gesture, like a dismembering puppet, but her ferocity seemed a little mindless and aggressive - well, _more_ mindless and aggressive.

He hopped to his feet in time to back away as she swung again, Astrid tackled and wrestled her to the floor, trying to pry at least one of those axes out of her firm and stubborn grip.

However, Ruffnut turned the tables and rolled over, now the one on top as she rose both axes and swung them down. Fortunately, she caught both weapons and held them back with her own muscle, she gritted her teeth in frustration and watched Ruffnut leaned closer to push her strength further on her, now close enough to where they were face to face. Regardless, the axes didn't make anywhere closer.

Astrid slammed her head against her with great force and headbutted her, but no progress seemed to be made. She headbutted her a few more times before dropping her head back in exhaustion, she had only gotten a painful headache out of the effort, but the possessed Ruffnut seemed unaffected. That wasn't good. She was going to need a new tactic.

She plainly watched as Hiccup throw himself at her, knocking her off of Astrid just before her own strength began to fade. She looked in her right hand, noticing that at least one weapon had been relieved from Ruffnut, it was a start, but there was still one left. She jumped to her feet and spotted the two, the scrawny viking pinned down underneath the zombified girl that was strangling him.

She watched as the remaining axe was lifted into the air, about to chop the poor boy's head off. Astrid hurriedly snatched a wooden shield, ran over to the wrestling two, and swung it across Ruffnut's head - probably injuring the big insect riding her shoulders, knocking the possessed viking to the floor. Astrid saw her motionless form twitch slightly, like a injured or unconscious bug, but she wasn't dead, just momentarily knocked out.

* * *

**How these horror stories work out is with a group of characters - under the threat of the subject - are all taken down one by one until only a few (such as 1-3, usually 2) survive and live through the event (though since the Parasite are exactly killing anyone, it probably just goes to the 2 who take down the Parasite matriarch), and usually it's the lovers of the story. Now, here's a spoiler: someone of the group(not meaning the already zombified Ruffnut) will be "taken down" and zombified...**


	20. Chapter 20

_How To Train Your Dragon fanfic2_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

Fray rolled over and kicked the large Tarantula off of him, as it landed sharply on its claw-tipped legs and hissed at him. While he crouched and readied himself for another attack, he couldn't help but marvel at this new discovery - it had only pretended to be dead, even when he had struck a kill on it. It was definitely intelligent enough to get inside his own home without drawing any worry to him or the young bloods, he could admit that, but thinking back of how it played "possum" only made him worry if it had been holding back on him before.

The Tarantula hissed, he flipped his bowie knife in reverse-grip and waited for its next move, and as it drew closer, he merely prepared himself further - for this was the great and honorable part of physical battle in a hunt, the combat between two adversaries, a death match.

As the bug leaped at him, he crouched and rolled out of the way as it pounced the ground underneath it, it would have crushed him if he hadn't moved. He scurried to his feet and jumped on top of it, driving his knife into its back.

It screeched in pain, rattling itself in violent movements in an attempt to shake him off, he resisted and twisted his knife, but kept his palm clear from the oozing blood, the paralyzing liquid. He glanced up in time to see the bug's spiny tail, and its sharp-bladed tip, swing by and knock him off. How fortunate he was the tail side had only struck him, the blade tip would have easily sliced him in two.

He flew across the back room, knocking into the skinned meat that hung in his way - whereas he had been painted in their blood, and was stopped by the wall. He slid off and landed on the wooden surface, and was caught off guard as the bug jumped and toppled over him. It hissed so menacingly and snapped at him, as well as lung at his face with the tail blade, he swung his head left and right to elude the fate, until the blade tip was stuck into the wooden floor beside him.

He swung the knife around and sliced the blade from the tip of its tail, detaching the problematic weapon, just so it resulted in a loud, pain-filled shriek. The creature grew visibly angrier as it grabbed his knife in its teeth and relieved him of it, tossing it away - it landed a few meters from his head, within the floorboard.

Fray struggled and crawled for it, but the bug hissed and prevented him from getting away. It pinned him down and snapped at him, its chops close to the faceplate of his mask. He glanced over to the bowie knife and back at the creature, pushing it by its throat - away from him, he extended his other hand and reached for the knife, it was still pretty far.

He held his strength firmly against the Tarantula, keeping that teeth-filled mouth - those sharp jaws - from getting any closer to him, but they were so close to him. With both hands pushing the beast away, he began to feel his strength decrease, and the bug drew close enough to drool on his mask. Thinking fast, he slammed his head hard against the bug's exoskeleton skull, twice, flailing it slightly, but gave him enough time.

Moving fast, he reached out, snatched the knife, and stabbed it in the bug's shoulder - and as it shrieked every so loudly in pain, almost too loud to where he went deaf, he took the time launched his feet, kicking the monster off of him. The kick launched it across the room, as it flew right out the door.

Fray leaped to his feet, crouched with his fists in front of him, and waited for his adversary to return for another match. But not a single living creature came through that doorway, only the dark haze and air of the midnight outside. It was gone, as it seemed, and it only cost him a bowie knife to live through this day. He wiped and brushed off some of the slaughterhouse meat blood, just as the sound of ruckus and calamity from the other room caught his ear.

* * *

Astrid breathed heavily as she dropped the shield, Hiccup sat up and gave both her and the unconscious Ruffnut a wide stare. Snotlout just stood there, stupefied, and now visibly kept himself at a distance from the Viking girl - obviously knowing the dangers if he should mess with her.

Hiccup recollected himself to his feet, leaning on the chair as he tried to catch his breath, and looked at Astrid, "Thank... you," he said, exhausted and spooked by the circumstance they had just endorsed.

"Did you kill her?" Snotlout asked, frightened to make the slightest step towards them - which satisfied her.

She looked at Ruffnut and shook her head, "No, she's fine, she's just out cold," she assured him.

Abruptly, a loud burst slammed on the front door - right behind Snotlout. He spun around as the locks were detached from the door, and a live Tarantula appeared, sticking its claws and head inside to hiss at him. Before he could do anything about it, the bug hissed and sprayed him with saliva, the paralyzing venom.

Astrid could only watch - shivers running all throughout her body - as the tough guy fell sagged as he tried to back away and fell limply onto the floor, motionless but alive. She immediately sprinted for the door, avoiding getting sprayed herself, and kicked it close on the big bug. But it refused to be foiled and stuck its clawed leg in the way, preventing it from closing all the way.

She threw herself against the door and pushed it with all her might, she wasn't going to allow it an entrance on her free will. It hissed in anger and pushed more aggressively, it was almost hard enough to knock her off her feet, but regardless she turned and held her back against the door, planting her boots firmly on the floor, and stood her ground.

"Astrid!" Hiccup called, just as more hisses and shrieks of Tarantulas screeched - surely the sound of bugs surrounding the cottage.

"Get Snotlout!" She ordered, trying to maintain her strength against the door. She watched as the scrawny young man nodded and hurried for the motionless Viking, but suddenly an arm wrapped around the boy's neck and pulled him back. "Hiccup!"

Astrid watched as a recovered, possessed Ruffnut pinned Hiccup to the ground, strangling him with one hand while the other reached for an axe. She wanted to help, she needed to save him, but doing that meant leaving the door, if so the Tarantula would get in and then things would be much worse.

All she could do was watch as Hiccup - the poor boy - tried to pry her fingers from around his neck, his eyes pinched shut as he fought for his breath of air. He closed his eyes because he didn't want to see it come, she wouldn't blame him - she didn't want to either.

Zombie Ruffnut raised and the axe high above her head, holding the young man in place, but before she could end his life, a hand snatched the weapon from behind, as well as snatch the spiny tail of the bug that rode her shoulders.

Both Hiccup and Astrid opened their eyes, it was Fray - the confiscated axe in one hand and the spiny tail, with Ruffnut attached, in his other. He carefully leveled the axe and swiped it through the tail, slicing it from the rest of the bug. The Viking girl fell to the ground, groaning as she slumped into a more motionless state, from the looks of things, she was never in real danger of dying.

The hunter tossed the axe, as it twirled in the air and hit its mark, cutting through the limb of the Tarantula Astrid used her strength to prevent entry. As the clawed limb fell to the floor, she pushed with all her might, finally shutting the door and the big bug out. Relieved with some slack, she caught her breath and reclaimed her axe.

Fray hooked the tip of his boot under the auto-reload crossbow lying on the floor and kicked it up, caught it, and fired a barrage of arrows at the nearest window, as a Tarantula immediately dropped out of sight, squealing in pain. He spun around and fired at the other window, and then through the wall, and it resulted in more painful shrieks from the creatures outside.

Astrid kept her axe in front of her as she heard the clattering of claws tapping along wood - on the roof. A claw dug and stabbed through the ceiling, just over Snotlout, she quickly grabbed the motionless young man by the arm and pulled him out of the way as the roof fell down, and a Tarantula landed on top of the rubble.

Fray spun around and fired a barrage of arrows, shotting the horrid monster dead, however more cracks and clatters above the ceiling. Without warning, two more bugs broke through the roof - each one landing on top of both the hunter and Hiccup, pinning them to the ground. Astrid gasped and set Snotlout aside, running to their aid, only to have her path blocked by a third Tarantula, which hissed menacingly at her.

Struggling underneath the bug on top of him, Hiccup pushed it away with all his might, placed his middle and pointer finger to his lips, and blew a whistle. In a matter of seconds, they all heard a loud roar from the outside darkness - the roar of the Night Fury, and abruptly a small blast blew a hole through the wall, and the black dragon roared as it entered the cottage.

Toothless roared and unleashed blasts of blue fire out in every direction, dispatching each Tarantula away. Both bugs were blasted off of Hiccup and Fray, and the bug threatening Astrid was toast. All over the place blue fire was spat everywhere, and bugs were incinerated and frightened away. After the heat nearly burned the whole room, it all came to an end - and the insects were gone.

The Night Fury caught his breath and rested himself - cooling his mouth of the flames he had rapidly produced without an end. Astrid recollected to her feet and dusted herself off, glanced out the window once and looked back to the others. Hiccup propped himself up, inhaling and exhaling heavily as he looked all around the torn rubble that use to be the hunter's home, "Did we win?"

Suddenly, Astrid took notice of a shadow looming over her - from behind her, she spun around, only to witness the stalking Tarantula break through the window, grab her, and pull her away. "Astrid!" She heard Hiccup shout for her, and she could do nothing to break free from the big bug, that was dragging her away.

"Hiccup...!"

* * *

**Hey everyone, sorry to have to leave it at a cliff hanger like this, but I'm having a little trouble juggling this story with my others, so it'll be a while before I give my next review. Dig? **

**Review, please...**


	21. Chapter 21

_How To Train Your Dragon -_

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

"Hiccup!" He heard his name shouted, as she was dragged away the Tarantulas hissing with victory. He could only watch her disappear into the forest, claimed by the shadows, and claimed by the demons. Having to witness it right in front of his very eyes made him feel a little lightheaded, somewhat nauseous, and it all made his shudder. He felt as if he had just been traumatized, and all due to Astrid's absence.

He turned his attention to the remaining others.

Toothless looked as if he was sharing his traumatized spirit and broken heart, he was the only one who could understand him - especially how he lost the girl of his dreams. He had told the dragon about his childhood, about how she never treated him so badly like others did, but he felt as if it was a mistake because now - now they were sharing the pain, and he felt that was the worst thing he could have done to the Night Fury.

Fray, on the other hand, appeared to have his attention mostly on studying his now ransacked cottage, the broken windows, the holes in every wall and ceiling, and his shattered trophies. He seemed to be showing the least care that they had fortunately survived, or the fact that they had lost someone of their group. From that moment on, he considered the hunter selfish, and understood how obvious it must have been that he was a loner.

"Um... hello?" Snotlout called, still lying paralyzed on the ground, "could somebody help me, if it isn't too much _trouble_!"

The hunter strolled over to the motionless young viking and picked him up, twisted and stretched his limbs hard to a painful range - as the young man made several yelps in result - until he placed him on his feet. Snotlout stretch a little big himself, caressing his sore muscles.

"Gee, thanks."

Hiccup knelled down and checked on Ruffnut, who was lying motionlessly on her back, her eyes open wide with her pupils shrinking and growing repeatedly. He touched her wrist to feel for a pulse, and touched her face. She was alive, thankfully, but in some type of unconsciousness - almost dead to everyone around her, but she would live.

"It's okay, Ruffnut's alright," he announced, and Snotlout began to complain.

"She's alright, what about Astrid? - What about us? Those things just tore through this cottage with ease and took her, now she's probably gonna wind up just like everyone else. No where's safe, what are we gonna do?"

"We're going after your friend," Fray said, both boys glanced at him in shock.

Snotlout agreed, but Hiccup was a little unsure why this hunter would want to save a teenage viking girl from a horde of the bugs. Though despite he wanted to know why, he listened on content.

"Okay, but how? What'd we do if we run into any more of those big bugs?" Snotlout asked.

Fray sauntered to his storage room and began to collect a few weapons. He placed three auto-reload crossbows on the desk, with plenty of effect arrow ammunition chambers by the weapons' sides. He piled some more of his hunting equipment, a few bladed weapons, nets, and bolas, but also began add a few small, wooden boxes aside - all of which were filled with dynamite sticks of TNT.

"Explosives?" Hiccup pointed out, "What do we need those for?"

"Just an precaution, we may run into something we haven't seen before, and it's all best we be prepared for the upcoming dangers," the hunter told them, "now I want both of you strap on a explosive canister with you, and collect whatever weapons you can carry."

"Are you sure we'll need the explosives for a rescue? I mean, I'm sure a few crossbows and swords can be just about enough."

"You're going to have to trust me, young blood," Fray told them, "Do you trust me, or not?"

"Well, yeah, okay I trust you, but... how are we even gonna find her? She could be anywhere in the woods by now, how will we know where to look?"

"Don't dragons have an sterling sense of smell?"

With that question, Hiccup glanced over to the Night Fury, whom was too surprised to be the subject in the hunter's interest. Regardless of how odd it seemed, he understood immediately what he was getting at.

Toothless could track down Astrid.

It seemed crazy, but it was more than possible and accurately likely to work. But he needed to hurry, need to save her, so with that, he agreed with the hunter. Toothless can find and lead them to her, all they needed to worry about was staying alive along the way.

Hiccup approached the Night Fury, placing a hand on his scaly head and looked into his yellow eyes - the dragon nodded and understood the intention, and from what he could see, he wanted to help Astrid too. He smiled, knowing that his best friend would at least be with him as they tried to help, they both knew the risks, and together, they would go through it.

He turned to Fray, whom was collecting equipment, not yet waiting for an answer. But when he glanced back up to the boy, he nodded, "Alright. Let's do it."

* * *

Astrid kicked and shoved as much as she could, but to no avail could she break free from the Tarantulas as they dragged her into the darkness of their lair. After being pulled through the sticky, web-covered inners this dark cave, she was thrown down into a large pit, she rolled down the slimy walls of the hole and in the center of it.

She quickly recollected to her feet, although unarmed she stood ready to fight if she had too, but there wasn't a single bug in the pit with her. She inhaled and exhaled heavily as she listened to the surrounding sounds from above her, she could hear the all too familiar hissing of the bugs, but also whispering voices that silently echoed in this cave. It was silent gossips, laughter and crying that appeared to be passed through verbal from ghosts, or so it seemed.

She further scanned the area, taking a step forward, only to feel the tip of her boot tap a round, bulbous object on the ground. She looked down to find a slimy sphere planted on the surface, it was large, round, and ex-banding and reducing repeatedly - almost as if it were breathing. It rather disgusted her, but disturbed simultaneous to her discovery of the object's identity. It was an egg.

She turned her attention to the rest of the pit, finding it filled and littered with numerous eggs all over. Hundreds of large, bulbous orbs laid along the entire filthy surface, some coated with webs while many other stuck independently on the walls and ground. Many of these eggs were vibrating, as if there was something inside its core, moving and twitching to be born. She didn't want to find out what was exactly in them, and to be frank, she would prefer to get out of this hellish nightmare of a place.

She hurried turned away and started for the wall, she attempted to climb it but only ended up slipping back down into the pit. The Tarantulas had been quite clever to dump her in this hole, she was beginning to feel like a fish in a bowl - there was no escape, just the slippery walls that only made her swim in circles.

Suddenly, she heard a squish, followed by a liquid leaking out a small, enclosed hole. Astrid spun around in time to witness a small creature burst from the egg, and to make things worse, it jumped at her. She caught the small, slimy creature before it could attach to her, tossed it on the ground, and stomped on it with her boot.

All the bugs inside the cave - as if simultaneously - screeched and shrieked so frighteningly, she almost went deaf. Astrid slapped her hands again her ears, shielding them from the shriek. She dropped to her knees gripping her head, praying and pleading it would stop, and as if someone had heard her, it all fell silent.

She sighed in gratitude as sat up, only to come face-to-face with a Tarantula, gritting its teeth at her, it would be obvious if it was angry with her. It stared at her for a minute, and then roared in her face, which gave her just the motivation. She tried for a sprint, but the bug jumped her, pinning her down with its larger form, pressing her face into the slimy webbing.

Astrid propped herself up and hurried crawled to escape, but a bug - one of the small zombie-makers - fell on her back, between her shoulder blades, and immediately she panicked.

She yelped, snatching a the insect that was already wrapping its skinny legs around her, fearing what she hoped wasn't inevitable at this point. Remembering the other victims she had seen, Gobber, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and even their entire village, she didn't want to endorse the same fate. She didn't want to be a mindless puppet.

One minute she was struggling to break free from the bug on her shoulders, the next she fell motionless. It was as if she had just been knocked out from her blind spot, all of her body and mind appeared to just suddenly shut down, completely. She was just a helpless, almost dead-like body, lying in the middle of the pit of eggs, a insect taking a good hold of her.

She felt herself twitch - a small static shock run through her whole body, through her spine and all of her limbs. Her right arm lifted, as if an invisible string was controlling it, and pressed her palm on the ground. Her left arm repeated the motion and both arms propped her up, while her feet took better footing and picked up her drooping body. Her eyes opened, as if she had just awoken from a deep sleep.

Astrid tried to move, tried to twitch even a finger but couldn't - her body was against her, she knew that well enough to be true. She could only stand there like a statue, horrified as she found herself unable to move, but also helpless in thought. The bug had merged its will with her mind, it had a greater will than she, and she couldn't overcome it.

Once again, the strange, spooky whispering from the darkness and shadows of the Hive, but she couldn't turn her head to see anyone. Only one voice could be heard - speaking into the core of her mind, telling her things.

"You are one." The deep, bone-chilling voice told her, "You belong to the Hive."

* * *

**Hey everyone, sorry for such a late update of Parasite, lately was I thinking nobody was really interested in a horror story about mind control bugs in the category about dragons. But considered the reviews I got, which I am grateful for, I got just the motivation I needed to get back on the saddle.**

**Thanks for reviewing, and Happy 4th of July!**


	22. Chapter 22

**.**

* * *

**Parasite**

* * *

After the long hike through the forest - the path Toothless led them being excruciating and mind-numbingly boring, they finally came to a stop in front of a cave archway. Past the entrance was deep and pure blackness, they couldn't see much of anything past the dark - this whole cave must have been completely untouched by sunbeams, only the lanterns they carried would supply them with any source of light. Hiccup shuddered at the chill that ran down his spine, while the Night Fury showed an even less of desire to wander around in a spooky cavern no one know what about, he could share the feeling.

Only Fray took the first step toward the cavern entrance, lifting and shining his lantern down the dark archway. He couldn't read the hunter's face due to the steel mask, but Hiccup could tell he was making a long observation of the cave. He watched as he knelt and stroked two fingers along the ground, retracting his hand to find some slimy substance sticking to his fingers. He swatted it away and turned to face the young Vikings and dragon, "We're here."

"Uh... okay, that's good," Snotlout said, shrugging his satchel more firmly on his back, "but where exactly is here?"

"Is this where they took Astrid?" Hiccup asked, just as Toothless nudged at his leg, obviously try to tell him something.

He glanced down at the black dragon, who eyed him with warning, worried eyes of yellow. In a way he could understand him - as if he was reading his eyes, he was trying to warn him of dangers inside the cavern, something more mysterious and frightening then they expect. It was just what he needed to glance at the hunter suspiciously.

"Fray," he started again, his voice more stern and serious, "what's in there?"

"Isn't in obvious, Hiccup?" Snotlout began, "Astrid's in there, and she's stuck with bugs, Tarantulas..."

"And the matriarch." Fray added, facing the dark archway. Both Hiccup and Snotlout glanced at him in surprise, watching as his steel mask rotated to face them, "We've reached the bug's Hive."

"The Hive!" Snotlout repeated in a shout, he turned and angry glare to the Night Fury, "You led us to the bug's Hive? You stupid animal!"

"'Lout, hold on," Hiccup held up a hand to halt, still looking at the hunter, "This is what the explosives are for, isn't it?"

He didn't answer, and neither of them could see any expressions of embarrassment, shame or guilt. He just stood there without giving them an answer, and that was suspicious enough to help him realize the truth.

"You knew, didn't you? You knew at the first moment after they captured her they would take her here, to the Queen and the Hive, and you knew straight at first that Toothless could find her and lead you here. This is what you've been after all along, isn't it?"

"Whoa, hold up," Snotlout held both hands in front of him as if he was under arrest, a way of ushering him to ease, "what are you going on about?"

"Fray was using us to get to the Hive," Hiccup revealed, "that's why he first suggested Toothless to track Astrid and why he had us bring explosives, he wanted to find the exact location of the Hive, and we're helping him accomplish his goal."

"Wait, isn't that a good thing? We all brought explosives so I take it we're gonna rescue Astrid and blow up the Hive to bits, and surely that will kill their nest and their mother, and then all is well. Right?"

"I don't think so, 'Lout," - he gave Fray a stern look - "In fact, the Hive's probably not the real target he's after, is it?"

The hunter shook his head slowly, "No," he breathed, "it's the Matriarch. She's what I'm after."

"Well that's it, 'Lout, that's what all this is about," Hiccup explained, "this isn't a mission to rescue any damsels in distress or save Berk, this is Fray's hunt!"

The other young Viking was visibly surprised by this. He directed his anger at Fray, whom still didn't show a sign of sorrow for the deception, "Okay, so this is all a hunt for the bug queen, and you need heavy duty to take it down. So what are we in this little hunt?"

"Probably the bait to lure it into his trap, by now that seems like him."

"No," Fray sternly said, "your place in this is to take out the Hive, _that_'s what the explosives are for. Find the egg chamber so you can set the charges and destroy any further infestation to come, if you take out the support pillars, it'll collapse the Hive for sure. But the Matriarch is mine to deal with and my concern alone. Go ahead and save your village and your woman, I will take care of the Matriarch by my lonesome."

"Why?" Hiccup asked, folding his arms, "Why don't you help use take out the pillars and eggs so we can take out the whole Hive and the Queen all together, and put to an end to it once and for all, no longer than that?"

"No, the Matriarch is mine, I must confront and defeat her myself," he told him, "this is something I must do alone."

"How come? Why do you need to separate from us to seek and destroy a queen? It doesn't seem like you have to jeopardize everything, the least you can do for the village and save it instead of going about your selfish desires to hunt. But I can't help but wonder why, why are you going to betray Berk and turn your back on everyone? I know you left Berk, but once a Viking, always a Viking - it's your conscience to help."

Although he couldn't see a face behind that steel mask of his, he could easily tell Fray was now staring at him with a death glare. He become unbelievably frightened as he approached him, suddenly reminded of how tall he was compared to his own scrawny stature.

"I'm not the one to started turning backs on others," he told him, "I only left village of Berk because they expelled me, all because of my mistake in confront against the Monstrous Nightmare - during my graduation. I had become victorious against that dragon and I could have slain it, but because of one reckless act and a scar obtained as the punishment, they banished me and marked my scar as symbol of dishonor and disgrace."

To Hiccup's greater surprise, Fray began to reach for his mask, placing one hand over its steel faceplate while his other hand vanished behind his head, fidgeting with the strap of his "game face." The strap was pulled away from his dreadlocks, and the steel mask was removed and was now held in his one free grip, as his true face was finally revealed.

Shockingly, and completely awkward, Hiccup's expression nearly fully dropped all at once, he found out that Fray was middle aged with a freshly shaved face, but it was the scar across his face that mostly hogged his attention. It was even more disturbing than he imagined, he would have guessed it was decades after he had gotten the scar, but he didn't expect how severe it looked.

The scar appeared as a scratch done by three razor sharp claws along the right side of his face, some of his cheek appeared reduced, one scratch ran through and severed the right end of his lip, and his right eye - he almost fainted - his right eye was missing! It was such a discomforting sight, Hiccup was sure he would have gone the rest of his life happily without seeing it _once_. It was the most severe scar he had ever seen, he wouldn't complain if it topped his own missing leg.

"You see this?" Fray pointed to the scar on his face, as if it was a rhetorical question both young Vikings obviously could, "This is reason why they disgraced me an outcast, why they expelled me without honor. This scar is more than just a symbol, it's a weakness, a blind spot - my blind spot. It was your father, Stoick the Vast, who saw my blind spot as a hazard, and so he renounced me as a Viking worthy to fight along side him and the others."

As the hunter turned away from them, Hiccup could actually feel sympathy for him. He was reminded of the past, of the times when the dragons would come to raid Berk, whenever his father and all the adult Vikings charged and rushed into battle with him, and during each and every time he wanted to be apart of them, but even his own father turned him away and directed him to the blacksmith, for fear he could get in the way. He had been considered a hazard in the past, as much as an outsider as Fray is now. He knew his pain.

"I am worthy," he went on, turning back to face him, "I can fight, I still have experience and training, I have the trophies to prove it, but before I even confront the Chieftain, there is one more trophy to collect. The Matriarch is my target - my prey, she is to become my next trophy so when this is all over, I can finally make the Chieftain eat his words. Here me out young bloods, the Hive _will_ be purged, but the Matriarch will fall first, at my hands alone."

"Listen Fray, I understand your goal for redemption, but you don't have to do this," Hiccup consulted, "when I fought the Great Dragon I only risked my own life to kill it because I had to, in order to save everyone I cared about. But taking out the Queen by yourself is different, we need you to help us set these explosives, when we find Astrid we can light the fuse and escape in time to watch the Hive be destroyed. It's a good and easy plan, and we can pull it off."

"Do not lecture me, I do have something to gain from this, honor. They all branded me an outsiders and an exile, but I will prove them wrong. I will return to the village with the Matriarch as my trophy, so I can show them they were wrong, that I am worthy. It is my honor they shamed, and I shall take it back my own way."

"Look, take this as a compliment," Snotlout began, "you definitely would've made an excellent Viking, considering how stubborn you are."

"'Lout, you're not helping," Hiccup barked, turning back to Fray, "Please listen to reason, I'm sure you could probably take a stroll through the Hive by yourself and live - _maybe_, but what about us? Me, Toothless and Snotlout? Maybe you could make it through all this but we probably can't, how are you going to face my dad and expect him to apologize to you with us on your conscience? My dad's not all too forgiving or understanding, so after this is over and you have your trophy, it won't even matter."

"Yeah," the other young Viking seconded, "if you succeed and we're dead in all this, it'll just put you in more hot soup. You know we can be very aggressive, and they'll surely find out you didn't watch our back when we need help, so what're you gonna do when they put a bounty price on your head? Huh?"

Fray remained silent from the hard logic that practically slapped him across the face, and Hiccup knew they had gotten to him - hypothetically, they had preyed on his blind spot.

"Fine." He replied sternly, "I will accompany you through the cave for the time being, but I will not promise you reliable protection, you have the weapons, use them when needed. However, while I put myself at risk I am giving you options, you can follow me into hell, or not." - he extended his hand to Hiccup - "You can give me the bag, and I will destroy the Hive myself, but I will not risk the chance of saving your woman on the way out. What is your choice?"

In his opinion, that was the toughest question Hiccup had even been asked. Right now, Fray had given him a choice, to turn back now and let only him take care of the cavern. It might have seem like a choice worth taking in his first opinion of the frightening, horror filled archway, but Astrid - he couldn't let her die this way. He had just told him to make a choice, he could come with him and try to rescue her, or stay away from the cave and let her die on his conscience. Although his new fear of the dark was quite insistent, he shrugged the fear off and kept his satchel firmly hanging on his shoulders.

"I'm coming," he told him, "maybe you've got some honor to pick bones with my dad, but I'm gonna save Astrid."

"Then I'm coming too," Snotlout added.

Toothless simulatively shook off the fear and took a spot right at Hiccup's side, he was journeying too.

"Very well," Fray replied, quickly modified his weapon, readjusted his mask over his face, "then let's go." He said, and then started down the cave archway. Hiccup and the others following close, their lanterns' light showing them the way, as they voyaged through the darkness.

* * *

**Wow! How about that for a revelation, huh? Feel free to review. **

**Also, to the anomynous review of a many names (such as joey, gwen, bill, will, odie, gustaf, luther, fred, ferb, phineas, ell, ed, and all those other names), I appreciate you're trying to motivate me into writing the next chapter, but all those short and unnecessary reviews that say "update soon" isn't really helping me. I don't mean to sound mean, I'm just asking if you would please stop with all the reviews, I can tell it's all one person reviewing me. I'm not fooled. **


	23. Chapter 23

**Parasite**

* * *

She was only a drone.

She had no name, at least not any more, she was stripped of her name and idenity, her Queen claimed she would not need it any more - for she was apart of the Hive now. All she had for idenity knowledge was that she had been adopted - as they called it, taken in by one of the Queen's children to be a drone, that was who she was now, just a drone. She might have been a human before, at least a little piece of her remembered, but it didn't matter any more, she was mindless, she couldn't think or move for herself, she could only listen and obey...

...Like a true drone.

The child whom claimed her was a drone, and she could remember it claiming her for itself, how it ripped through her clothing to expose her back's flesh, and how it dove its needle like thorns into her body, wiring up with her limbs and mind. Now it was her, and she was it - they were both one now, just one drone like many. She was only conscious, she hadn't been destroyed yet, she was only robbed of her will and made a servant - a servant of the Hive.

The drone had a new assignment to do, the Queen's eggs were ready and needed to be transported to the nesting crater, the same place where she recalled killing a new born maggot and where she had been made a drone - this was her punishment for her past actions, for the crime she committed before she became anew. Her sentencing was to carry the eggs to the nest, where they would hatch and be transported to their next stage of growth.

It scared her remnants of being human, but she was already in a nightmare, one which she couldn't wake up no matter how much she tried. Her own body was against, same as her mind and will, the Hive had stolen her from herself, and left her with nothing else. No memories, no thoughts, no ability to think, only the obedience her human remnants didn't need, and the loyalty she didn't have before. This was all a nightmare about her being transformed into something she can't control, and the worse of it was she couldn't wake up.

She would never wake up.

The drone reached out with her arms and picked up the small, spheric globe, which was coated with a slimy, web-like substance. As directed, she placed it against her body, whereas the slime of it stuck itself upon her skin, and collected a few more, until she now carried six eggs.

She stalked through the cavern of the Hive, her arms full of eggs but not a single thought to ponder on. The drone passed several of the Guardians of the Hive, as they carried new born maggots, and were likely heading for the outside, to harvest trees for the evolution into drones.

It all felt mutual to her, no fear or regret of her actions, only her body made a move, and that was clearing minding only the drone's business and continuing to the nest. Once she was there, the drone began to dig a hole in the crater, and mechanically her hands claimed one of the eggs and gently placed it within the hole, burying it in to ensure its lasting into maggot stage, all she needed to do now was let it grow on its own.

This was what was left of her - whoever she was, just an adopted drone sentenced to servitude for a crime she committed before claimed. Her name and identity was confiscated, whoever she use to be doesn't matter any more, she was no longer human as far as she knew, she was just one another drone, a servant, just another of the Hive, and nothing else.

Suddenly, she heard a call from within her mind, a type of screech that was more of a command coming from inside her thoughts, the Queen was alerting the entire Hive due to some matter of emergency. The drone took acknowledgement of the alert and hurriedly climbed out of the nest, reaching for what was once her human weapon.

The Queen spoke out and alerted the Hive, the Guardians and the drones, with a call that reached every loyal mind, including hers - _Intruders_!

* * *

They voyaged through the dark pathway of the cave, feeling chills run through him Hiccup took a quick moment of time to rub his palms together for warmth, and quickly reformed a hold on the crossbow and satchel, to insure the explosives maintained without harm. However, he didn't believe once that they would be safe for even a second in this nightmarish place - he had never been a fan of dark caves, and the knowledge that they were meandering through a hive of parasitic bugs did little to lighten up his mood.

The first thing they had been taught was to never mess with a hive of hornets, but was this a completely different situation?

"Man!" Snotlout began, waving his hand over his face, "It stinks... what's in this cavern anyway?"

"Well what were you expecting to find in a hive - honey?" Hiccup commented, adding a little sense of humor to the situation. "Just relax, we're getting closer to the center of the Hive, I think."

"Sure, that makes me feel a whole lots better. We close to arriving in the center of this hellhole, where all the bugs are coming from. Perfect!"

"Silence!" Fray snapped back at them, shining his lantern's light down the pathway and making his way further into the darkness.

Both teenagers and the Night Fury kept close as they reached the end of the archway and found themselves just at the very entrance of the Hive. The ceiling was huge, wide and high off the ground, but to make things worse it was also dark - they could barely see a thing through the thick fog.

But what really made Hiccup's skin crawl was the strange series of whispering he heard out in the deep darkness, the sounds of ghosts being present in their wake, and the voice of looming spectators and predators which were watching them, stalking them.

"I feel like I'm being watched," he announced to the others in a quick, near quiet voice to insure not to give their position away.

"We're in their territory," Fray replied, his observing gaze never leaving the interior, "of course we're being watched."

"Gee, thanks, that's a comforting thought."

Without warning, they heard a rather loud hiss echo through the cavern, like the sound of a snake who had discovered a mouse meandering through its tunnel, and it was at that moment he knew their place in the theory. They had been the ones to aimlessly journey into the Hive, and the bugs must have surely been watching them as they drew closer and deeper - they were the mice, and they had just wandered right into a snakepit.

"I don't like the sound of that," Snotlout said, and Hiccup couldn't agree more with him.

The hissing mysteriously came to an end, and left them all puzzled and worried about what was to happen next. He kept calm and watched the shadows of the cave, but Snotlout was the one whom was already beginning to panick. Fray's expression was a mystery, but his arming his wrist slings and drawing his machete proved his reaction will differ. Toothless growled, his yellow eyes scanning throughout the whole Hive, ready to pounce if need be.

The only thing that made this long wait uncomfortable was the dead silence that plagued their surroundings, the haze of short fog that began to creep across the ground, and the very thought that anything could jump out at them at any moment was the most disturbing.

A shriek emitted and echoed through the whole cavern, it came so unexpected that it would have made them jump out of their own skin. Hiccup glanced up to find a Tarantula leap off the ceiling, flying towards him - but before he could react Fray pushed him aside and thrusted his blade as the giant bug toppled over him. From the ground he watched as the monster and the hunter rolled and wrestled until he was finally on top of it, he dove his weapon into the creatures, twisting the blade both ways, until it finally went limp and montionless.

He lifted his head to trace Fray's next glance, finding two more monstrosities climbing along the web-covered walls towards them. The hunter removed his satchel of explosives and drew a bola in each hand, he swung and twirled them both in circular motion and tossed the second after the first.

The first wrapped around one's neck, swung around, and litterally the two steel spheres smashed its head flat. As its dead body dropped to the ground the second was enclosed and tangled by the remaining bola, restrained as it fell to the surface next to its brethren. Fray drew his machete from the dead creature and dove upon his tangled prey, and with a well placed boot he stomped on the bug's head, smashing through the thick exoskeleton and squishing it.

Another shrieked echoed, and Hiccup looked up to find another Tarantula, strangely he spotted a knife half buried in the thing's shoulder, but it appeared to have some interest or value to Fray because he leaped onto ledge by ledge and chased after it as it scurried away.

"Fray!" He called, but to no avail did he get through to the hunter as he left their presence, likely abandoning them.

"Aw man, he just ditched us!" Snotlout complained, starting for the tunnel from which they entered, "I'm outta here!"

Before he could take a step forward, a few bugs dropped in front of him, blocking their way out. The young Viking could only freak and start in the other direction, running through another tunnel.

"'Lout, come back!" Hiccup called, but again to no avail. Now it was only him and Toothless. The dragon hissed back at the Tarantulas as they clattered and surrounded them.

He blasted the first to approach, a blue bolt of fire pierced and incinerated the fleshy bug into ash, just as another hopped onto his back. Toothless rolled over, applying enough weight to crush the insect, and recollected himself to his feet to swat at the third with his tail.

It appeared to do little progress, all through the Hive more and more bugs began to crawl out through holes and tunnel, coming to the point of outnumbering them by hundreds. Hiccup knew it to be true that they probably couldn't win this fight, and unfortunately so did the Night Fury.

He was caught unaware as the black dragon swung around swatted _him_ away - at first to allow him to escape while he held off the horde, and Hiccup was merely powerless to prevent himself from falling down a tunnel, he was tossed and rolled down as he could only watch the scene of Toothless fighting off numerous monsters drew farther and farther away, until he could no longer see him.

"Toothless!"


End file.
